Art Fund Museum of the Year
This is an annual award to honor the museum with the most outstanding, valuable and meaningful activities of the year in the UK. Art Fund Museum of the Year is also the largest museum award in the world today.
Opening up new interactive spaces
Due to the prolonged social distancing, the operational trends of museums have changed as on-site services are no longer dominant. Therefore, museums have formed three spatial models: on-site, online and in the community. Each space is important and has its own value, but regardless of the space, the human interaction factor is still the most important.
Turning restrictions into opportunities, Firstsite Art Museum - a visual arts organization based in Colchester, Essex (UK) - has promoted strengthening existing connections, while expanding many interesting experiences online to connect the Museum's artworks with everyone in the world.
Firstsite was founded in 2011 and the 2021 Art Fund Awards mark the Museum's 10th anniversary.
The Museum's exhibitions occur on a six-monthly cycle and there is no permanent art collection.
Since the early days of social distancing in the UK, Firstsite has created online activity packs featuring over 50 artists and many prestigious works of art, which have been downloaded by nearly 100,000 households. At the same time, they have also encouraged people to express their creativity by creating their own work and displaying it in the Creative Studio area on the Firstsite website. In addition, the Museum has introduced the documentary "Welcome to Essex Exhibition" by artist Michael Landy, which was loved by thousands of international audiences over the summer.
The Great Big Art Exhibition showcases work submitted by people around the world to the museum, and thousands of entries have been uploaded to the Creative Studio.
Not standing outside the issues of the times
Not only connecting culture to the community, Firstsite also has meaningful initiatives, including displaying the collection "My name is not Refugee"(My name is not Refugee)Curated by the social organisation Refugee Action Colchester, and the exhibition Art For Life - an exhibition to raise awareness of the impact of Covid-19 on mental health.
Along with the online experiences, Firstsite also demonstrated the Museum's responsibility to the community during the difficult time of the pandemic. They devoted themselves to helping local people in need, becoming a vaccination center, lending the Museum building for charity activities, or using part of the building as a restaurant, providing free meals and activities for children during the holidays.
With the criteria of innovation and expansion of spacesinnovative, accessible and community focused, Firstsite Museum has done a “mission” to spread positivity to the public, while also nurturing deep, long-lasting relationships with local artists and communities. All of these things made them the “Best Museum” of the year.
Innovative but intact
Jenny Waldman, Director of the Art Foundation, who is behind the prestigious award, said Firstsite is an “outstanding example of innovation and integrity”. “At the core of Firstsite is the power of contemporary art, which is housed in a gallery that allows anyone to have a space to reflect; from artists and Museum staff to local families and refugee groups.”
“Everything needs to be constantly evolving,” says Sally Shaw, director of Firstsite Museum. “From the way we run our restaurant and what’s available inside the Museum, to the difference we can make in a town like Colchester. It requires constant innovation.”
On its official website, Firstsite is introduced as an "ever-innovative" art space.
In a new trend, many UK museums are seizing the opportunity to reach, connect and understand their audiences more effectively through the use of digital platforms. They have gained deeper insights from audience data and are using fundraising platforms to raise funds from the community, increase revenue and turn their museum lovers into active supporters.
In addition, another important task is for museums to also plan for long-term operations in the three current space models. What Firstsite has achieved so far has become a common standard for the rest of museums in the UK in particular, and globally in general, in the effort to maintain sustainability, support health and bring positive energy to audiences as well as the community.
