Opening in honor of Taras Shevchenko's 100th birthday in April 1914,[4] the Katerynoslav City Art Museum intended to serve as an urban community education hub in addition to being a cultural institution.

In 1937, the museum's number of operations and stock collection increased, so much so that it had to relocate to a four-story building on 21 Shevchenko Street, where it remains to this day.

The building held the land surveying technical school administration as well as history and art museum displays during the city's occupation in 1941–1943.

However a portion of the building was destroyed when a bomb struck the house's roof from the left façade during an air raid in the summer of 1941, penetrating the upper level ceiling.

Because they were rescued in time, the museum's exhibits escaped damage, but other wooden structures and interfloor ceilings burnt.

The museum features several Soviet-era pieces by Russian painters such as Mykhailo Bozhii, Vasyl Kasiian, Ivan Znoba, and Mykola Hlushchenko.