Built in 1971 by architect Adi Miklavc and extensively renovated in 2015, the gallery's unmistakably modernist design definitely makes an immediate visual impact on visitors before they even enter the building. Inside there is a large collection of 20th-century Slovene artists, most of whom are locals from either the Šaleška or Savinjska valleys. Exhibitions tend to focus on contemporary works from the younger generation of Slovene artists, while the gallery also a regional centre for creative activites, organising the annual Velenje Artists' Colony, which is attended by recent graduates from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, among many other events.