The Box in Plymouth named UK Museum of the Year
The Plymouth institution has won the Art Fund's £120,000 prize, described as the largest museum award in the world, capping a strong year for regional cultural venues.
By Source Reporters Newsdesk
Thu, 23 July 2026 · 1 min read
The Box in Plymouth has been named Art Fund Museum of the Year, taking home a £120,000 prize that organisers describe as the largest museum award in the world.
The accolade is one of the most prestigious in the cultural calendar, recognising a museum that has shown ambition, imagination and a strong connection to its audiences over the past year. For a venue outside the traditional big-city cultural centres, the win is a significant marker of the vitality of regional institutions.
The Box brings together art, archives, natural history and social history under one roof, and has built a reputation for exhibitions that connect its collections to the story of its city and region. Prizes of this kind reward not just the quality of what is on the walls but the way a museum engages its community — through programming, learning and a sense of place.
The financial award matters too. For museums operating on tight budgets, a six-figure prize can fund new exhibitions, conservation work or outreach that would otherwise be out of reach. Just as important is the visibility: being named museum of the year tends to draw visitors, partners and attention.
The recognition comes amid a broader conversation about the role of regional museums in cultural life. As institutions everywhere navigate funding pressures and changing visitor habits, awards that spotlight ambitious work outside the capital help make the case for investment beyond the largest cities.
For The Box, and for Plymouth, the honour is a moment of pride — and an invitation to the wider public to discover a museum now formally recognised among the best.