On Wednesday, the shortlist of four artists for this year’s prize was announced at Tate Britain in London, including Colombian artist Oscar Murillo and sound artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan. But the announcement was overshadowed by news that a bus company owned by the Stagecoach Group was to sponsor an exhibition of the shortlisted artists at Turner Contemporary, a gallery in Margate, a seaside town about 70 miles east of London.
Brian Souter, Stagecoach’s chairman, campaigned in 2000 against teaching about homosexuality in schools, and has spoken against same-sex marriage.
At the news conference announcing the shortlist, Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and chairman of the Turner Prize’s judges, declined to comment on whether Stagecoach was an appropriate choice. It had been Turner Contemporary’s responsibility to find local sponsors, he said.
But just over 24 hours later, Turner Contemporary, Tate and Stagecoach canceled the deal by mutual agreement, an emailed statement said.
“We are absolutely committed to diversity in our company,” Stagecoach South East said in the statement. “However, we do not want anything to distract from celebrating the Turner Prize artists and their work.”
The decision was welcomed by artists including Tai Shani, one of the four shortlisted for the prize, who celebrated it on Twitter.
Turner Contemporary said in an emailed statement that it was seeking alternative funding to cover the loss of the Stagecoach sponsorship. “In a climate of reductions in public investment to the arts, institutions across the U.K. are facing considerable challenges to deliver exceptional art for everyone,” the statement said.
The questions over the sponsorship were embarrassing for Tate because it had played a prominent role in recent debates on ethical funding in the museum world. In March, Tate said it would no longer accept financial donations from the Sackler family, whose pharmaceutical interests have been linked to the opioid crisis.
“The Sackler family has given generously to Tate in the past, as they have to a large number of U.K. arts institutions,” it said in a statement in March. “In the present circumstances we do not think it right to seek or accept further donations from the Sacklers,” the statement added.
Jess Worth, co-director of Culture Unstained, a group that campaigns against the sponsorship of British museums by oil companies, said in an email she was surprised the deal with Stagecoach had been agreed. “Some basic due diligence would have revealed the long-running controversy over Souter’s anti-LGBT views,” she said.
“This is another sign — following the recent Sackler controversy — that cultural organizations can take a bold ethical stance when they choose to,” she added.
A free exhibition of work by all four artists will run at Turner Contemporary from Sept. 28 until Jan. 12. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on Dec. 3.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.