The conversion of London's Tate Modern - from power station to towering art gallery attracting some five million visitors - has been no mean feat.

It cost �134m to convert but it seems all the investment has paid off - it helped push last year's gallery and museum admissions up by 20%.

The gallery, which houses some of the world's most important contemporary works by Bacon, Dali, Picasso, Matisse and Warhol, was paid for by several sources.

Led by Swiss architects Jacques Herzoh and Pierre de Meuron, the new Tate was funded by organisations including the Millennium Commission, English Partnerships and various, mostly anonymous, private sources.

This is London's first museum of modern art

The Millennium Commission donated �50m to the project, having designated it as a landmark project for London.

And English Partnerships, the government's urban regeneration agency, provided �12m to purchase the site and pay for the removal of the machinery.

The Arts Council of England also gave �6.2m of lottery money towards the conversion of level four of the gallery into a temporary exhibitions space.

And the London Borough of Southwark also invested in the project, recognising its potential for regeneration and employment for the Bankside and Southwark areas.

Another donation included �2.5m from the Clore Foundation and associated Vivien Duffield Foundation, which the gallery's director, Nicholas Serota, said he was delighted to receive.

Louise Bourgeois's work was exhibited until June

The gallery also received an boost of �5m last February from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, with year-on-year increases of �6m thereafter, to ensure free admission.

And a sponsorship �1.25m sponsorship deal was done with Unilever for a commissioned artist to display work.

The first artist to exhibit their work under the five-year scheme was French-American sculptor Louise Bourgeois, 87.

Three 30ft structures - named I Do, I Undo and I Redo - were moulded from decaying steel and surrounded by mirrors to give a raw, industrial feel.

Untitled 2000 by Bhupen Khakhar: Part of Century City show

And in June the turbine hall of the South Bank gallery was remodelled by Spanish artist Juan Munoz with a newly installed suspended floor.

Visitors looking up into the space view a scene of sculptured grey figures at work while a different image is experienced from above.

Another method of fundraising was the Founding Corporate Partner Scheme, made up of 17 companies.

It was launched in 1998 and has so far raised almost �4 million for the Tate's four sites - two in London, one in Liverpool and one in St Ives in Cornwall.

Roy Lichtenstein's work is displayed in the gallery

Part of the cash went towards the building of Tate Modern.

In return for the companies' five-year commitment, the scheme allows them to gain exclusive benefits including entertaining, employee education events, private views and special access behind the scenes.