On March 25, 1990, the Knoxville Museum of Art opened its new 53,200-square-foot building on the former 1982 World's Fair site in downtown Knoxville. The institution had begun in 1961 as the Dulin Gallery of Art, housed in a John Russell Pope-designed mansion whose limited security and climate control restricted accreditation and major loans. After a 1984 decision to build a regional fine arts museum, the organization changed its name in 1987 and moved toward a purpose-built home designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. Tennessee Encyclopedia records that more than 5,000 people attended the grand opening. The pink Tennessee marble building gave the museum exhibition space, education facilities, public gathering areas, and a stronger platform for Southern Appalachian and contemporary art.
The opening transformed a local gallery into an accredited regional museum with a durable civic presence.