Art fund prize
Is apathy to blame for a poor turn out at the polls?
And no, I don't mean the European elections.
The one Scottish hopeful in the running for the £100,000 Art Fund Prize - Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery - is apparently trailing in the polls.
The prize - for the most original and imaginative museums collection - is decided by a panel of judges (including this year, film-maker Lord Puttnam and Turner prize winner Grayson Perry) but this year, for the first time, the public is also being given a say.
The Wedgewood Museum in Stoke on Trent seems to be the favourite so far, with almost half the vote although both Orleans Gallery in Twickenham and Ruithin Craft Centre in Denbighshire are also doing well.
But Kelvingrove seems to be lagging. Last week, it had a mere 8% of the vote.
This week, there seemed to be some rallying and the figure was up to 10%.
Perhaps the fact the voting is via the is putting some voters off (the Evening Times is a strong supporter of the museum but can hardly be seen to send readers off to another paper!)
Or maybe it's just that its educational scheme is less newsworthy than Wedgewood.
Whatever the reason, supporters of Kelvingrove are anxious to rally support and increase the vote by 11 June when the online poll closes.
The winner will be announced in London a week later.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
Comment number 1.
At 6th Jun 2009, John B wrote:"voting is via the Guardian's website"
Do you have a link?
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Comment number 2.
At 6th Jun 2009, handclapping wrote:Pauline
Though the Kelvingrove is good, in the light of the Burrell, Polock House etc., it is not as important to Glasgow as the Wedgewood is to Stoke and I think that shows up in the support the Wedgewood is getting.
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Comment number 3.
At 6th Jun 2009, njmayes wrote:Alternatively, maybe they aren't voting for Kelvingrove because it's such a pathetic shadow of its former self.
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Comment number 4.
At 6th Jun 2009, originalfatbadger wrote:Perhaps it is because it's not Kelvingrove which has been nominated, but rather the failed 'The Centre of New Enlightenment' (TCONE) at Kelvingrove which has been nominated. Virtually everything that the project was supposed to deliver months ago still isn't working or isn't even in place. It was badly conceived; but it has been even more badly managed.
And don't even get me on to the vaguely fascist name it has...
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Comment number 5.
At 6th Jun 2009, Ruberik wrote:Scottish vote, love Kelvingrove but voted for Wedgewood well before I saw this blog - Why do Scottish journalists assume all scots will vote through blind loyalty? It's insulting.
Good luck Wedgewood!
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Comment number 6.
At 7th Jun 2009, qebesenuef wrote:I disagree - Kelvingrove is extremely important to the people of Glasgow, and possibly more so than the Burrell and Pollok House. I know people who think Kelvingrove much more accessible, not just in geographical terms.
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Comment number 7.
At 12th Jun 2009, GlasgowGuide wrote:According the Guardian:
"We regret that we have reason to believe that irregularities in the voting process have affected the results of this poll, so we have reluctantly closed it early. We are currently investigating the matter and will post an update on this site as soon as we can."
See the following page for a fuller explanation:
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