This building once served as the gymnasium for the Moravian Seminary and College for Women.

Renovated as an art gallery in 1982, the building's exterior remains largely unchanged and the open wood beamed ceiling remains intact. When the adjacent Foy Concert Hall was completed (also in 1982), the Payne Gallery building, which was originally one of the few stand-alone buildings on the campus, was joined to the other buildings in the South Campus complex.