Ashmolean & Towner shortlisted for Art Fund Prize

Two museum developments by Rick Mather Architects have made the long list of eleven museums and galleries in the running to win this year's £100,000 Art Fund Prize, the UK's largest single arts prize.

The £61 million redevelopment of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford was described by the judges as,"an ambitious redevelopment of one of the great university museums of the world that extends and enhances public access to its remarkable collections of art and archaeology".

Completed in November 2009, the Ashmolean reopened to both critical and public acclaim.

Towner in Eastbourne is also on the shortlist for the prize. Completed in early 2009, Towner is "the rebirth of a long-established local authority gallery as a stunning new public art space for Eastbourne and the leading centre for visual arts in the South East".

The £100,000 prize is awarded to the museum or gallery for a project completed in the last year, that the Judges deem demonstrates the most originality, imagination and excellence. The Prize, which has been sponsored by the UK's leading independent art charity, The Art Fund, for three years, aims to increase public appreciation and enjoyment of the UK's museums and galleries.

The long list has been selected by a panel of Judges chaired this year by broadcaster Kirsty Young.