The 1934 opening of the Audigier Collection of art, decorative arts, and other collections of Eleanor Audigier marked the first time there had been a specific place to exhibit art and other collections at UT. With the 1947 establishment of the Fine Arts Department, space to exhibit works other than those donated by the Audigiers was needed. In late 1947 a former residence-turned-student-rooming-house at 1505 Cumberland Avenue was renovated to provide instructional space for the art program, and a gallery was installed on the first floor to showcase traveling exhibits, as well as local, faculty, and student exhibits. The first (1948) exhibition consisted of watercolors by Jean Thoburn of Pittsburgh; works by the Syracuse 8, members of the art faculty at Syracuse University; and a group of paintings by artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The gallery was a joint effort of the Art Education and Fine Arts Departments. When the McClung Museum opened in 1963, it contained the university’s art gallery, and faculty in the Department of Art took turns arranging art exhibits in it. In 1980, with the opening of the Art and Architecture Building anticipated, a gallery director was hired, and the Art Department Gallery began to function with the opening of the Art and Architecture building in 1981.
The gallery has approximately 3,000 square feet of exhibit space with three hundred running feet of wall surface (walls 11 feet high and ceiling 20 feet high); adjustable track lighting; climate control; and a security alarm system. On April 26, 1985, at opening ceremonies of the 38th Annual Student Art Competition, Chancellor Jack E. Reese dedicated the gallery as the C. Kermit Ewing Gallery of Art, which honored the man hired to start and build an art program at UT in 1947. The gallery has its own collections and also hosts guest exhibits, faculty exhibits, and student exhibits.