It opened in Rio de Janeiro in 1989, Brasília in 2000, São Paulo in 2001 and Belo Horizonte in 2013.

[1] Its three centers in Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and São Paulo are among the top hundred most visited art museums.

[2] The largest of the CCBB institutions is located in Rio de Janeiro, in an Art Deco building designed by Francisco Joaquim Bethencourt da Silva.

Similar in size is the São Paulo institution, designed in the same style by Hippolyto Pujol.

Both the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo branches contain theatres, cinemas, and multiple art galleries.