A NORTH East gallery has been shortlisted for a prize which could help to swell its collection with the work of an up-and-coming artist.

The Shipley Art Gallery in Gateshead is on a shortlist of five for the Contemporary Art Society Annual Award 2011.

It was set up three years ago as a way of supporting UK museums and galleries to commission new work that will remain within the winner’s permanent collection.

To enter, museums had to team up with an emerging artist and put forward a proposal for work they would like to have commissioned.

The winning museum or gallery will receive £60,000 from the Contemporary Art Society to commission the work – a welcome boost in a time of Government cuts which have hit the museums sector hard.

The Shipley teamed up with London artist Matthew Darbyshire who studied at the Slade School of Art and the Royal Academy Darbyshire has attracted wide attention for his artistic critiques of modern domestic interiors. This he does through installations featuring seemingly familiar and popular designs.

The Shipley has a significant craft and design collection which was started in 1977, the year Matthew Darbyshire was born. He recently visited the Shipley to look at the collections and discuss the proposal.

On his North East reconnaissance trip he also visited the Laing Art Gallery, the Discovery Museum, the Byker Wall and the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.