Panevėžys settlers began to settle on the banks of the Nevėžis River in the first half of the 16th century. In 1727, the Piarist monks who settled in the town opened the town's first
secondary school, and Panevėžys became an educational center.
By the end of the 19th century, the town's population was already more than 13 000, industry was developing and culture was flourishing.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Panevėžys became a regional center, and between the wars, it grew even more, with Lithuanian traditions, and
Polish and Jewish national communities.

During the Second World War, the city was occupied by the Russian army, and many business and cultural people were killed and exiled. During the Soviet era, many industrial
buildings and factories were built in the city, but the artists of Panevėžys tried to preserve their own identity and the traditions of inter-war culture.

The city was famous for the drama theatre founded by the legendary director J. Miltinis, which was represented by the actors Donatas Banionis, Vaclovas Blėdis, Algimantas
Masiulis, Bronius Babkauskas, and other equally famous actors.

Today, in Panevėžys, art can be found in the most unexpected spaces of the city, where many famous poets, musicians, actors, painters, sculptors and photographers work: Elvyra Pažemeckaitė, Juozas Lebednykas, Andrius Kviliūnas, Albinas Kėleris, Asta Preidytė, Algirdas Paulavičius, Marija Šileikaitė-Čičirkienė, Evaldas Ivanauskas, Remigijus Kriukas,
and others.

The museum is ready to become the beating heart of Panevėžys' culture, a centre of international cultural attraction, and to open a space for contemporary art, cultural dialogue, creative industries and education to the city's residents and visitors.