The name of "City of Paintings" originated from the first art exhibition run by the Taiwan Governor-General’s Art Exhibition (also known as Fuden) in 1938 when artists from Chiayi selected for the exhibition accounted for about 20% of all participants. At the time, Taiwan Daily Newspaper used the title "20% of candidates are from Chiayi, the City of Paintings" to praise the city. After that, Chiayi became the focal point of the art community in Taiwan. Artists like Lin Yushan, Tan Ting-pho, Pu Tiansheng and others went over the space limitation to depict the vivid world with their pens. They were key figures influencing Taiwan's art history. The museum is dedicated to sharing the collection of the past, present and future of the City of Paintings with the general public.

The collections at the museum are transferred from the Cultural Affairs Bureau. There are Western paintings, ink paintings, calligraphy, sculptures and photography and videos. Our tasks are to constantly take inventory of the collections and summary the context of art history of Chiayi and Taiwan. We assess, analyze and classify the collections, and search for the context of regional art and culture development in Chiayi. We also conduct comprehensive study of the art history of the collections in the museum and expand their characteristics and uniqueness from the art perspectives of Southern Taiwan, whole Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the world. The measures establish the future development and niche for the museum's collections.

We aim at conducting preservation, exhibition, educational promotion and study of cultural heritage. We collect the art works from artists who display significant influence and status in the development of art, and hope that we can accumulate art assets and provide proper maintenance and management for the general public. At the same time, we study our collection and diffuse art and culture into the daily lives of the general public through exhibitions, publications and education promotion activities, achieving the goal of sharing art works with everyone. 

Art works currently collected come from the award winners of Tao-Cheng Art Exhibition, transfers and donations, and they include：

• Art works from the City of Paintings in the 1930s.
• Works from various eras of art development in Chiayi.
• Works using Chiayi as the subject of creation.
• Contemporary works from Chiayi that have great potential.
• Works from art competitions in Chiayi.
• Works that show other future developments of collections.
• Those who meet the collection policy and are in the art categories of the museum.
• Those who have art, culture, and history contributions to the art community in Chiayi.
• Those who are identified as having collection value determined by the review committee of the museum.