Plymouth’s the Box has won the 2026 Art Fund of the year award Museums

Box in Plymouth has won the prestigious Art Fund Museum of the year award, the most prestigious award in the world, for its “ambitious and welcoming approach”.

In awarding the £120,000 prize, the judges called the Box “a revelation in many ways” and “a real jewel in the crown of the South West”.

The Box is a museum, gallery and museum that tells the story of Plymouth through its collection of over 2m artefacts, objects and artefacts.

Since opening in 2020, it has welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors and, according to the judges, has become “a leading example of what a museum can achieve”. It has generated more than $100m in health and wellness, boosting Plymouth’s economy by $244m, according to last year’s report, and involved 89% of the city’s schools.

The award was presented on Thursday night to Victoria Pomery, head of Box, and journalist June Sarpong, one of the judges, at a ceremony held at Cutty Sark, Royal. Museums Greenwich, London.

“What stood out most about the Box was the pride and connection it created in Plymouth,” Sarpong said. “From local groups such as the Windrush group to its partnership with the university, it is a museum that belongs to the people it serves.

“Through exhibitions that reveal the history of hosting a place of learning and art, the Box imagines what it can mean to be a museum.”

Jenny Waldman, and Art The Fund manager and chairman of the jury, said that the Box’s cultural and economic impact shows what long-term investment in culture can achieve.

“They’ve been very ambitious, inclusive and passionate about the audience,” Waldman told the Guardian. “And they continue to innovate, to be loved and appreciated by their audiences and their biggest supporters, the public authorities.”

He said museums have a “huge responsibility” to care for collections for future generations, and should also consider how to present them in ways that are inspiring and engaging.

Waldman highlighted one of Box’s community programs in the city’s Devonport district. “He sent a postcard to every resident inviting them to the Box to do a community service, and he got a great response, and he collected a number of historical artifacts that will be collected.”

The box office opened after a £48m investment and aimed to be “known and loved locally”. Since then, it has been using Plymouth’s collections to describe the city’s past while expanding its neglected voices.

His program for 2025 included this exhibition When Will We Be Good Enough? By Osman Yousefzada, who participated in colonial history, and Jyll Bradley Running and Backwhich explored the past and its presence.

The Jeremy Deller event Hello Sailor! – created by Box as part of its project The Triumph of Art for the National Gallery – brought the museum’s collection back into the public realm.

This summer, his two biggest shows are Sounds of Usfeaturing works from the public art gallery and artists including Barbara Hepworth and Chris Ofili, and Gillian Ayres: A Life of Colorseventy years of the photographer’s career.

The box was one of five finalists, alongside the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), the National Gallery (London), Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery (Norwich) and the V&A East Storehouse (London). Each of these will receive £20,000.

“They are smart, forward-thinking and pushing the boundaries of what the museum is and can achieve,” Waldman said. “They prove that investing in culture brings economic and social benefits.”