Art Fund Prize longlist revealed

Bristol's M Shed museum opened in June 2011

Four newly-opened museums have made the longlist for this year's Art Fund Prize.

M Shed in Bristol, Turner Contemporary in Margate, The Hepworth Wakefield and Glasgow's Riverside Museum are among the 10 museums in contention.

The latter is one of three Scottish institutions on the longlist for the £100,000 award.

The prize rewards excellence and innovation for a project completed or undertaken in the previous year.

Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, the National Museum of Scotland and Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery are also nominated, as are The Holburne Museum in Bath, The National Galleries of Scotland and Watts Gallery in Surrey.

"Whittling the achievements of Britain's museums over the past year down to a list of 10 was an unbelievably challenging task," said Lord Smith of Finsbury, who chaired the judging panel.

"The outstanding quality of the projects that we finally settled on, however, perfectly encapsulates the vitality and dynamism of a part of our nation's cultural life that continues to innovate, push boundaries and engage the public, even in these straitened times."

A shortlist of four museums will be announced on 14 May before the Museum of the Year is named at a ceremony at the British Museum on 19 June.

Now in its 10th year, 2011's prize was awarded to the British Museum after the success of its History of the World project which attempted to tell the story of humanity in 100 objects.