Leighton House finalist of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023
The museum is one the finalists of the world’s largest museum prize, awarded with £15,000.
Leighton House is one of the four finalists of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023. The Burrell Collection was presented with the £120,000 prize - the largest museum prize in the world - by the artist Sir Grayson Perry at a ceremony at the British Museum on 12 July. The other finalists were: The MAC (Belfast), Natural History Museum (London) and Scapa Flow Museum (Orkney). The finalists for this year’s prize all demonstrated transformational impact, redeveloping their offers with diverse and inspiring stories at their heart and responding to vital issues of today.
Celebrating Leighton House
The former studio-home of leading Victorian artist, Frederic Leighton (1830-1896), Leighton House has been recognised for the transformational Hidden Gem to National Treasure redevelopment, which saw the museum reopen in October 2022 following a sensitive restoration, including painstaking, ongoing research to recover and recreate Leighton’s original collection.
Going beyond the presentation of the home of a Victorian painter to explore broader themes of identity and cultural interaction, the museum has also been recognised for its inspiring collaborations with contemporary artists, makers and creatives to produce works and experiences which resonate with the influences of the house and connect with wider audiences. From bespoke hand-crafted furniture by displaced Syrian artisans, to Shahrzad Ghaffari's Oneness mural, Anhaar by Sara Choudhrey, Nour Hage's Kheit, Maya Youssef's musical qanun commission, and countless other partnerships, the museum continues Frederic Leighton's celebration of the wider world.
New reception area at Leighton House. Image Dirk Lindner.
Leighton House is thrilled to be one of the Art Fund Museum of the Year finalists, being recognised for our transformational redevelopment and inspiring collaborations with artists and makers. The public reaction since reopening has been fantastic and we are determined to continue reinventing what a house museum can be.
The 2023 edition celebrates 10 years of Art Fund Museum of the Year, a prize grounded in 50 years of history championing the UK's 2,500 museums, galleries and heritage sites.
Each finalist has received £15,000. Together with £120,000 received by the winning museum, the total prize money for Art Fund Museum of the Year is £180,000, specially increased for 2023 and beyond to mark the 120 years of Art Fund supporting Museums.
The 2023 judging panel, chaired by Art Fund director Jenny Waldman, includes: Larry Achiampong, artist; Mary Beard, historian and broadcaster; Abadesi Osunsade, Art Fund Trustee, author and owner of Hustle Crew, and Laura Pye, Director, National Museums Liverpool.
Some of the museum's team members celebrating the annoucement
With thanks
We are incredibly grateful to all of our supporters, partners, creatives, volunteers, staff, and everyone who has visited and joined in to make Leighton House such a joyous celebration of "oneness".
We would also like to thank Art Fund for their continued support and advocacy for more and better access to culture and of course, the incredible judges, who visited Leighton House in June and shared with all of us an unforgettable day of stories, music, conversations and art.
Paint Pasha Peacock
Thank you to everyone who joined in to paint Pasha peacock as part of our celebrations. We've loved seeing so many colourful versions; from ages 4 to 34 years; in locations from London, to Berlin and Stockholm; and using a variety of arts materials including colouring pencils, monochrome shading, felt tip pens and watercolours.
Don't worry if you missed our deadline, you can still download and colour your own version.