The gallery was set up in 1956, following an initiative by artists living and creating their works in Banská Bystrica. At present, it houses and uses for scientific, artistic and presentation purposes close to 14,000 collectibles from the area of visual arts, predominantly from the 20thcentury. It features nearly 9,000 graphic works of art.
Since 1992, the gallery is located in the Renaissance-style Bethlen's House on Dolná ulica (Street) no. 8. Exhibition premises of the Bethlen`s House are used for temporary exhibitions.
In 2008, an exhibition area - room 19_21 was established in the permanent exposition of D. Skutecký. The gallery uses it for temporary exhibitions of the youngest generation of artists.