The Museum of Making, which opened in May 2021 following a multimillion-pound transformation, was last night (14^th July) awarded £15,000 as finalist for Art Fund’s Museum of the Year Award 2022.

Art Fund annually shortlists five outstanding museums for the Museum of the Year prize. This year’s winner, Horniman Museum and Gardens (London), receives £100,000 with the four other finalists, Museum of Making (Derby), People’s History Museum (Manchester), The Story Museum (Oxford) and Tŷ Pawb (Wrexham),each receiving £15,000.

Tony Butler, Executive Director of Derby Museums said: “Being a finalist for Art Fund’s Museum of the Year Award in our first year of operation is an incredible accolade. I would like to say thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make the museum a success, including our staff, volunteers, funders, supporters and of course our visitors.”

“I would also like to pay tribute to the winner, Horniman Museum and Gardens, and the other finalists, all of whom have worked so hard to make their museums a success, and to say thank you to Art Fund for selecting us to be part of this process and its generous £15,000 finalist award. It has really helped to put us on the map and shine a light on the innovative way we have shaped and developed this new museum for the 21^st Century.”

The Museum of Making opened in May 2021 following a multimillion-pound transformation. Standing on what is widely regarded as the site of the world’s first modern factory at Derby Silk Mill, this pioneering museum celebrates Derbyshire’s 300-year history of making, innovation, and technology, with some standout objects, from a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine in the main atrium, to a Toyota car suspended above the heads of visitors as they enter the building.

One of the things that makes the Museum of Making stand out is its approach to displaying its collections. To help visitors find exhibits that could inspire their own making, all objects in the museum’s collection are grouped around the materials from which they are predominantly made – wood, metal, ceramic, glass, stone, textile, synthetic or organic.

Visitors can create their own bespoke trail through The Assemblage – picture the best antiques shop you’ve ever been in – an area home to the museum’s 30,000 objects in its collections, which are helpfully arranged on a grid system. It also looks to the future of making and creativity, with a state-of-the-art workshop packed full of specialist equipment and skilled staff who are on hand to help modern makers.

Since opening in May 2021, the museum has welcomed over 105,000 visitors through its doors to see the permanent collection, as well as exhibitions including Scale, which looked at perspective, and the current Do It Yourself? exhibition, which runs until 1^st September 2022.

The judges for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2022 were: Art Fund Director Jenny Waldman; Dame Diane Lees, Director-General, Imperial War Museums; Harold Offeh, artist and educator; Dr Janina Ramirez, cultural historian and broadcaster, and Huw Stephens, BBC Radio 6 DJ and broadcaster.

Find out more about the Museum of Making.

Images: Visitors in The Assemblage at The Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill, Art Fund Museum of the Year finalist 2022 © Emli Bendixen-Art Fund