Museum of the Year: Firstsite wins £100,000 Arts Fund
It’s a big month for Colchester’s contemporary arts organisation Firstsite. Celebrating its 10th birthday this month, on Sunday 26 September, the gallery has just been awarded the annual £100,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year award. Praised for its community work, Firstsite offered 8,500 free school meals for local children to creating free art packs during Lockdown.
Fittingly located in Britain’s fastest growing town, Firstsite reflects the region’s strong arts heritage fusing art, education and community involvement,. Since becoming director in 2016, Sally Shaw has co-commissioned Gillian Wearing’s Millicent Fawcett statue for Parliament Square, Michael Landy’s Welcome to Essex exhibition and Elsa James to make a downloadable work titled We Stand With You, in support of Black Lives Matter. Art with heart deserves funding to continue the good work.