Best Art Vinyl: album artwork through the ages

Showcasing the best of vinyl album artwork from 1949 - 2021. Best Art Vinyl: album artwork through the ages was a celebration of iconic vinyl album artwork from 1949 – 2021. This exhibition showcased the creativity and ingenuity behind the design of vinyl album covers, exploring the fascinating history and inspiration behind some iconic artworks such as Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, the Sex Pistol’s Never Mind the Bollocks and The Beatles The White Album. At The Collection Museum, the exhibition was accompanied by the 18th Best Art Vinyl Award, an annual search for the most creative and well-designed record cover of the year. The Best Art Vinyl Award sees a diverse shortlist of the 50 best record covers of the year compiled by a panel of highly respected industry experts, artists and designers. Best Art Vinyl 2022 Award Winners 1st Artwork by Simon Monk for Black Country, New Road’s album 'Ants From Up There' 2nd Artwork by Bart Balboa for Birds In Row’s album 'Gris Klein' 3rd Illustration by Jake Blanchard for Richard Dawson’s album 'The Ruby Cord' The exhibition was complemented by material from Lincolnshire Heritage Service’s archives and local lenders, inviting you to take a trip down memory lane and discover Lincolnshire’s surprising musical past. You could explore newspaper articles about The Great Western Express Festival, Lincolnshire’s very own version of Woodstock in the 1970s! We believe that everyone has a connection to music, whether it is your favourite album, the song that gets you on the dancefloor or your first ever gig. As part of the exhibition, we invited visitors to share these memories by contributing their own favourite vinyl album to the display or telling us their most treasured music memory via our Museum of Music Memories which was in the Courtyard Gallery. Most importantly, we invited visitors to take a turn on the jukebox, where we hoped they could find a track from a previous decade that would make you want to dance. Best Art Vinyl: album artwork through the ages was a touring exhibition in collaboration with The Civic, Barnsley and Art Vinyl. 22 October - 22 January 2023.