The mission of the Catherine Smith Gallery, located within Farthing Auditorium is to become a center for the presentation of the visual arts in Northwestern North Carolina by establishing a regionally significant exhibition and research program in support of the educational mission of Appalachian State University.

Catherine Smith Gallery is a program of Appalachian State University.  The gallery is a non-profit making institution, in the service of society and its development and open to the public. The gallery is committed to researching, exhibiting and interpreting, for the purpose of study, education, and enjoyment of objects, activities and documents which are part of the focus of visual arts.