His father, Robert H. Adkins, a chemistry and science teacher and Korean War veteran, sang and played the organ; his mother, Doris Jackson, a nurse, was an amateur clarinetist and pianist.

[10] Many of his works draw from the biographies of little known historical figures; his 2011 exhibition Nutjuitok (Polar Star) is based on the life of a black Arctic explorer named Matthew Henson who reached the North Pole with Robert Peary at the turn of the 20th century.

[6][22] Next, at the 2015 Venice Biennale, a sculpture he created from found musical instruments was included in All The World's Futures, an exhibition curated by Okwui Enwezor that centered on social practice in art.

[23] In 2023, Adkins' work was included in the exhibition and related catalogue of Spirit in the Land, a show looking into human interconnection with natural worlds and ecologies organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, in Durham.

[25][26] His work was The art exhibition "Nenuphar," features various sculptures and mixed media artworks by Terry Adkins, held at the Salon 94 gallery, located in New York City, in 2014.

This art exhibition was to showcase similarities between two very different men: Yves Klein, the French Nouveau Réaliste, and the American George Washington Carver, who was born a slave but went on to become a renowned agricultural chemist, inventor and educator, he also became a musician, painter and creator of dyes and pigments.

This exhibition shows how Adkins's extensive historical research revealed loose connections related to botany, music and the nautical, but more importantly his linking of the two men resulted in some arresting works that sparked a satisfy-ing frisson (Ruble, 2014: 154–155).

In each of various locations across the United States connected with Brown's life, Adkins collaborated with members of the local community and merged newly discovered objects into the installations.

[27][28] Adkins' sculpture "Last Trumpet" was prominently featured at the Museum of Modern Art's Artist’s Choice: Grace Wales Bonner's "Spirit Movers" exhibition in 2024.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Adkins was a teacher and mentor to numerous contemporary visual artists including Sandford Biggers,[32] Demetrius Oliver, Nsenga Knight, Jamal Cyrus, and Jacolby Satterwhite.