Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge is in the running to win The Art Fund Prize for museums and galleries, the UK’s largest single arts prize of £100,000
Art Fund Prize Judges broadcaster Kirsty Young artist Jonathan Yeo, Antiques Roadshow expert Lars Tharp and Sally Osman will be visiting Ironbridge this Wednesday 21 April
The £100,000 prize is awarded to the museum or gallery for a project completed in the last year, that the Judges deem demonstrates the most originality, imagination and excellence. The Prize, which has been sponsored by the UK’s leading independent art charity, The Art Fund, for three years, aims to increase public appreciation and enjoyment of the UK’s museums and galleries.
Blists Hill Victorian Town is the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust’s largest site totalling 54 acres, and presents life in a typical town of the East Shropshire Coalfield around 1900. Blists Hill is brought to life through a unique mix of first and third-person interpretation, combining the efforts of costumed museum staff, professional actors and volunteers. The £12 million development of Blists Hill has seen the creation of a landmark Visitor Centre and World Heritage Site exhibition, a new street of shops and trades, a clay-mining experience, a narrow gauge railway and an incline lift.
