The museum is designed to appeal to both a popular and scholarly audience, with a collection that emphasizes objects of regional interest.

Part of the museum complex is Rowan Oak, a historic literary legacy that was once the home of William Faulkner, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Funding for the museum came from the generosity of her family, the Adair Skipwiths, and government programs such as the Works Progress Administration.

[1] With the help of a legislative appropriation and funds from the Skipwith Foundation, the museum significantly expanded in 1977 with the opening of the Kate Skipwith Teaching Museum to house the David M. Robinson Memorial Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities, along with the Millington-Barnard Collection of 19th Century Scientific Instruments.

The museum again grew in 1998 with the addition of the Seymour Lawrence Gallery to showcase the work of American Modernists, such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, John Marin, and Marsden Hartley.