The Gallery oversees the UNI Permanent Art Collection, which includes works by such prominent artists as Berenice Abbott, Josef Albers, Eugene Atget, Romare Bearden, John Buck, Dr. Harold Edgerton, George Grosz, Philip Guston, R. B. Kitaj, Pablo Picasso, and Jerry Uelsmann. This collection is complemented by a number of public artworks across campus funded by the Iowa Art in State Buildings Program and are by such notable sculptors as Fletcher Benton, Walter Dusenberry, Dale Eldred and Roberta Lord, Janet Loftquist, and Dennis Oppenheim.

The Gallery provides educational opportunities for students who would like to learn about arts administration and the operation of galleries through the university's Cooperative Education and Work Study Programs.