LONDON.- Yesterday, 19 May, the short list for the inaugural Clore Award for Museum Learning was announced.

Supported by the Clore Duffield Foundation the new £10,000 Award recognises and celebrates quality, impact and innovation in using museums and galleries for learning activities and initiatives.

The Clore Award for Museum Learning sits under the umbrella of the Art Fund Prize for Museums and Galleries, which awards £100,000 annually to the ‘Museum of the Year’. The Art Fund Prize short list is being announced tonight by Chair of the Judges, Michael Portillo, on Radio 4’s Front Row.

Five museums and galleries have been short listed for the Clore Award for Museum Learning:

• Museums Sheffield: Weston Park, Sheffield for With Sheba and Arwa (Belonging) – engaging communities and young people in a programme of learning and co-curation inspired by the legacy of two great Yemeni queens, Bilqis (Queen of Sheba) and Arwa (Sayyida Hurra), and modern day experiences of UK-Arabic women.

• National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth for Face to Face: Documenting experiences of conflict – a film project with primary school pupils and veterans exploring the impact of war.

• South London Gallery, London for Making Play – adventures in creative play through contemporary art.

• The Pitt Rivers Museum and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford for Making Museums – children design and make their own museums, from acquisition to exhibition, celebrating their identities.

• Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums, Newcastle upon Tyne for Culture Shock – a digital storytelling project in the North East.

The Clore Award judging panel is co-chaired by Dame Vivien Duffield DBE, Chairman of the Clore Duffield Foundation and Sally Bacon, the Foundation’s Director.

Dame Vivien Duffield said: “I am delighted to see such a diverse shortlist for the Clore Award for Museum Learning. It’s diverse geographically, and in terms of collections and exhibitions – spanning anthropology, contemporary art, natural history, world history, local history, and the history of the Royal Navy. What unites each of the shortlisted entries is what this Award is seeking to celebrate: a commitment to inspirational, high-quality learning activities.”

The Clore Award short list is announced in conjunction with the Art Fund Prize short list. On BBC Radio 4’s Front Row tonight, Michael Portillo will announce that the following four museums are in the running for the £100,000 accolade:

• The British Museum, London, for A History of the World

• The Polar Museum, University of Cambridge, for Promoting Britain's Polar Heritage

• The new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway, Scotland

• The Roman Baths Museum, Bath, for Roman Baths Development.

The winner of the Clore Award and Art Fund Prize will be announced on 15 June at a ceremony at Tate Britain.