The Art Fund and the Crafts Council today announce that Leeds Museums & Galleries has been shortlisted for Art Fund Collect, a £75,000 scheme bringing outstanding pieces of contemporary craft to museums and galleries across the UK.

Leeds Museums & Galleries is one of eight museums and galleries in the running this year.

Art Fund Collect is a joint scheme run by the Art Fund and the Crafts Council. It offers curators the chance to pick a unique piece of craft at COLLECT, the Crafts Council’s international art fair for contemporary objects. Successful curators win a share of £75,000 to buy their chosen object outright on behalf of their museum or gallery.

Polly Putnam, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts will take part on behalf of Leeds Museums & Galleries.

Polly Putnam said: “I’m delighted that I have been short-listed on behalf of Leeds Museums & Galleries. I’m really looking forward to seeing the works on show. I know that some works have been made especially for COLLECT so it’s great to see the very latest work by Artists. I’m both nervous and excited about presenting my choice. It’s a great exercise to have an acquisition challenged rigorously by some great experts. However, I hope I stand up to the challenge as it’s such a great opportunity to make a major acquisition for Leeds and build upon our existing collections.”

The other shortlisted curators and their seven respective institutions are:

1. Fiona Slattery and Martin Ellis, Curators of Applied Arts at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
2. Rachel Conroy, Assistant Curator at National Museum Wales – Amgueddfa Cymru
3. Penny Sexton, Curator & Holly Morgenroth, Assistant Curator of Natural History at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
4. James Beighton, Curator and Vicky Sturrs, Education Officer at mima Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art
5. Francesca Vanke, Curator of Decorative Arts and Dr Andrew Moore Keeper of Art and Senior Curator at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
6. Pamela Wood, Keeper of Decorative Arts and Deborah Dean, Visual Arts and Exhibitions Manager at Nottingham Castle Museum &Art Gallery
7. Alison Cooper, Assistant Keeper of Art at Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery

Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, said: “It’s fantastic to see that Art Fund Collect continues to draw some of the UK’s most talented curators, and we’re pleased that this year’s shortlist includes past competitors as well as some new names. This is a fantastic opportunity to snap up outstanding pieces from international makers at the top of their field, on behalf of the public collections across the UK. We wish all competitors the best of luck, and as ever encourage them to be bold and ambitious in their choices.”

Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director of the Crafts Council, said: ““Art Fund Collect is such a significant scheme for contemporary craft in the UK. As the Crafts Council celebrates its 40th anniversary this year by focusing on, and developing, our own collection it is heartening to see the desire of curators across the UK to collect world-class contemporary craft for their institutional collections.”

Art Fund Collect takes place on 5 May 2011, the preview day of COLLECT which is being held at the Saatchi Gallery for the third year running.

Polly Putnam and the other shortlisted curators will access the fair ahead of private buyers and VIPs, and one day before doors open to the public. They will have just one hour to go around the 37 international galleries represented at COLLECT and pick one object they wish to add to their museum or gallery’s public collection.

Curators are then required to justify their choice in a verbal presentation to the panel of judges. Winners are selected according to the vision and ambition they demonstrate. The Art Fund buys the winning objects on behalf of each successful museum or gallery.

This is the first time that Leeds Museums & Galleries has applied or taken part in Art Fund Collect.

Art Fund Collect was set up by the Art Fund and Crafts Council in 2008 as a way of boosting public collections with the best of international contemporary craft. To date, the scheme has contributed £200,000 towards the purchase of unique works for the public to enjoy.

A total of 18 institutions applied and the judging panel met on 23 March to draw up the shortlist. In 2010, five curators won an object for their public collections at Art Fund Collect. The winners were: Aberdeen Art Gallery; the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter; Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead; and the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. A total of eleven museums and galleries were shortlisted.