Eleven museum and galleries have been nominated for this year’s £100,000 Art Fund Prize.

Led by broadcaster Kirsty Young, the judges have chosen the institutions showing the most originality, imagination and excellence. They are:
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, for its universally admired redevelopment
Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, after a £12million expansion
The Great North Museum, Newcastle
Hampton Court Palace for Henry VIII; heads and hearts and its ambitious associated programming
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry, after redevelopment
The Leach Pottery, St Ives, reswcvued, restored and once again the most influential pottery studio in the world
The National Army Museum, London for Conflicts of Interest
The Natural History Museum, London for the Darwin Centre
The Royal Institution of Great Britain, for Science in the Making
The Towner, Eastbourne, a local authority gallery reborn as a new public art space
The Ulster Museum, Belfast following its three year redevelopment that has fundamentally reshaped its character

The public can vote for their favourite longlisted institution and leave comments for judges on the Art Fund Prize website www.artfundprize.org.uk.
The shortlist of four will be announced at the end of May and the winner on June 30.