Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery has been short-listed for a £75,000 scheme which could bring pieces of contemporary art to the city.

The museum is one of eight in the running for the Arts Fund Collect prize, 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.

Zelina Garland, curatorial services manager at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery said: “Art Fund Collect offers continuing support for Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s contemporary collecting, and is a wonderful opportunity to acquire a major piece of contemporary applied art during a challenging financial environment.

"If successful, this will raise the profile of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery as an actively collecting organisation, and enhance its nationally important applied art collection.”

Other short-listed venues include the National Museum Wales, Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, Leeds Museums & Galleries and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.

Art Fund Collect takes place on May 5.

The museum curators 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.