Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England. OverviewThe museum is named after Sir Alfred Herbert, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts enabled the original building to be opened in 1960. Building began in 1939, with an interruption by the Second World War, and the Herbert opened in 1960. In 2008, it reopened after a £14 million refurbishment. The Herbert is run by Culture Coventry, a registered charity, and admission is free. It derives financial support from donations, sales at the museum shop, and hiring the buildings out. In 2010, the museum and gallery received more than 300, 000 visitors, making it one of the most popular free tourist attractions in the West Midlands. HistoryBenedictine Museum and foundation: Pre-warMuseums in Coventry before the Herbert included the museum of the Coventry City Guild and the Benedictine Museum, opened by J. B. Shelton in the 1930s. However, Coventry City Council's collection of art treasures and museum pieces were housed in various buildings and so the council acquired a half acre site over a number of years costing £35, 375. In 1938 the philanthropist Sir Alfred Herbert donated £100, 000 to the Corporation to erect a Gallery and Museum on the site. Plans were drawn up by the Leicester architect Albert Herbert, a cousin of Sir Alfred, and building began the following year.

Herbert Art Gallery & Museum is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England. OverviewThe museum is named after Sir Alfred Herbert, a Coventry industrialist and philanthropist whose gifts enabled the original building to be opened in 1960. Building began in 1939, with an interruption by the Second World War, and the Herbert opened in 1960. In 2008, it reopened after a £14 million refurbishment. The Herbert is run by Culture Coventry, a registered charity, and admission is free. It derives financial support from donations, sales at the museum shop, and hiring the buildings out. In 2010, the museum and gallery received more than 300, 000 visitors, making it one of the most popular free tourist attractions in the West Midlands. HistoryBenedictine Museum and foundation: Pre-warMuseums in Coventry before the Herbert included the museum of the Coventry City Guild and the Benedictine Museum, opened by J. B. Shelton in the 1930s. However, Coventry City Council's collection of art treasures and museum pieces were housed in various buildings and so the council acquired a half acre site over a number of years costing £35, 375. In 1938 the philanthropist Sir Alfred Herbert donated £100, 000 to the Corporation to erect a Gallery and Museum on the site. Plans were drawn up by the Leicester architect Albert Herbert, a cousin of Sir Alfred, and building began the following year.