YORK Art Gallery has been shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year.

The nomination follows an £8 million transformation, and sees the North Yorkshire Museum reach the finals with the Arnolfini in Bristol, the Bethlem Museum of the Mind in Beckenham, Kent, Jupiter Artland in West Lothian and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.

The Art Fund awards the Museum of the Year prize annually to one outstanding museum, with a prize of £100,000.

Reyahn King, chief executive of York Museums Trust, said: "We are thrilled that York Art Gallery has been shortlisted for The Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2016. To be one of only five finalists is in itself fantastic recognition of the transformation that has taken place at the gallery.

"We believe the new and improved spaces are a fitting home to our nationally important collections and enable us to give the public a fresh approach to the display and understanding of ceramics. We can achieve our ambitions to host internationally important exhibitions and extend the artistic offer to our gardens behind. With learning spaces, better facilities and a great welcome we think the gallery is a friendly, inspiring and fun place for our visitors."

The awards ceremony will be held at the Natural History Museum in London in July.