The gallery began its work on November 4, 2007, with the exhibition "Faces of Time," which showcased the cultural heritage of Mari El from the collections of leading museums in the republic. The opening coincided with the celebration of the Day of National Unity and the Day of the Republic of Mari El.

In 2007, it hosted the All-Russian charitable project "Museum. Music. Children," aimed at orphaned children.

At the end of 2008, the gallery became the venue for an extended meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Committee of the International Council of Museums.

In the spring of 2010, the gallery launched the information and educational center "Russian Museum: Virtual Branch."

In the fall of 2011, a creative event titled "Portrait of the City: Yoshkar-Ola Transformed, the Pearl of the Volga" took place. It involved 24 professional artists from Moscow, Perm Krai, and the republics of the Volga Federal District, who captured the emerging architectural appearance of Yoshkar-Ola. The outcome of the event was an exhibition of the same name and an increase in the collection by more than 100 storage units.

That same year, a Resource Center for children and teenagers with various social and physical capabilities opened at the National Art Gallery, allowing them to study programs from the State Russian Museum remotely.

The gallery has hosted exhibitions such as a solo exhibition by Russian-Swiss artist Alexander Benois di Stetto, "Gold of the Baltic" from the collections of the Kaliningrad Amber Museum, a solo exhibition by Zurab Tsereteli, and an exhibition of works by Salvador Dalí.

The gallery building is located in the city center on Obolensky-Nogotkov Square, named after the first voivode of Tsarevokokshaisk, who has an equestrian monument. It was built in 2007 in the Renaissance style. The main element of the building is a tower with a clock. In the upper left corner of the clock, the image of the Mother of God appears in the opening gates, and then in the lower left corner, a donkey with her image moves, symbolizing the arrival of the Mother of God to Mari land. The donkey enters the lower right gates, which then close, and in the upper right corner, the blessing image of the Queen of Heaven reappears.

The exhibition halls of the gallery are equipped with modern alarm systems, climate control, fire extinguishing, and lighting systems.

The gallery features a permanent exhibition "Mari Color," which includes Mari embroidery, jewelry, folk costumes, painting, classics, and ethnofuturism from the collections of the Republican Museum of Fine Arts.