On Wednesday 14 December, Amelia Mansell from Stratford walked through the Herbert's doors and became our millionth visitor. 

Amelia was visiting us for the first time with her daughter Sophie to attend the Tiny Tots Explorers: Sensory Play activity. She said "I can't believe we're the millionth visitor. I booked to come here ages ago so for this to happen is crazy. I was shocked when they [the Herbert] said that we'd won. We love the Herbert." 

To celebrate the great milestone, we commissioned a massive new artwork which is displayed in the covered court area. The huge 407cm by 407cm image is of our namesake and founder Sir Alfred Herbert. If you look closely at it you'll see that Sir Alfred's face is made up of smaller pictures of people, exhibitions and events that have visited or taken place at the Herbert over the past three years. Look hard enough and you might find a picture of you or someone you know! 

Well done Amelia and here's to the next million!

The past three years in 337 words…

The Herbert's commitment to developing audiences has been noticed and rewarded with an array of awards and commendations. In 2010 they were a finalist in the prestigious Art Fund Prize, won national recognition as the UK's best family friendly museum and were commended for their best use of Marketing and PR in audience development in the Museum Libraries and Archives annual awards.

Since its £20million transformation the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum has proven to be a bigger success than anyone had ever anticipated as local people passed through its doors in their thousands to engage with heritage and the arts at many different levels.

A major part of the Herbert's redevelopment was to create four new temporary exhibition spaces that could house touring shows and collections. This programme has brought world class touring exhibitions to the region in partnership with the British Museum, V&A, the Arts Council, and Natural History Museum amongst others. Each exhibition has been seen by tens of thousands of people from Coventry, Warwickshire and the wider region. They were also chosen as the venue to host the prestigious BBC History of the World exhibition displaying some of the region's historic treasures.

The Herbert has developed its learning programmes for both schools and families which has resulted in the gallery becoming an essential tool for teachers and parents. 98% of Coventry schools have used the Herbert's services to support their delivery of the curriculum; in three years over 45,000 pupils have taken part in the active learning sessions covering a range of subjects including ancient Egypt, wartime, art, sculpture and the History of Coventry.

The informal family learning programme has allowed more than 40,000 people to utilise the FREE craft activities and play installations held within the gallery.

Similarly the inclusion team have worked in partnership with many different Coventry communities including homeless, deaf and other groups. This work, along with other contributions, has resulted in the Herbert having one of the most diverse visitor profiles of all the museums across the region.