Credito Valtellinese Gallery in Sondrio is situated inside the XVII-century Palazzo Sertoli, which the bank purchased in 1983 and restored in four years. The stands are hosted in the room once used for wine pressing, which has maintained the original structure with stones and vaults. The plan of the Gallery includes three rooms covering a surface of about 120 square meters. It opened in 1987 - the Gallery in Milan (Stelline Refectory) was opened in the same year - with an exhibition devoted to Angelo Del Bon, a famous painter from Lombardy belonging to the Group of the "Chiaristi". The Gallery of Palazzo Sertoli soon became the Province's official place for hosting a wide range of art exhibitions on the most various subjects: e.g. painting, sculpture, photography as well as minor arts. Most importantly, the exhibitions are chosen in order to make the great public approach the world of contemporary arts, which are still today elite arts.

That's why the Gallery alternates contemporary art exhibitions with more understandable and attractive events linked to the historical and artistic culture of the place or explicitly didactic, which lead to discover ancient arts or folk handmade exhibits. Among the most interesting exhibitions on this subject we mention Livio Benetti - Alla scoperta di un artista, which the Gallery hosted in 1997 and Renzo Sala - Ricerca come metamorfosi, metamorfosi come conoscenza, hosted in Sondrio in 1998. Both events were meant to focus on two artists who played a key role within the local artistic culture. In other cases, some artists coming from abroad were asked to interpret the meaning of our culture and art. Velasco, for instance, pictured the devastated landscape of 1990 after the tragedy occurred in the Val Pola, while Enrico Della Torre offered an interpretation of the Valley with his "Pitture Valtellinesi 1973-1995", painted in 1996. Their works aimed at making our culture familiar with other cultures by means of objects of the everyday life, nevertheless high-quality handmade articles. E.g. the Polish Christmas, Cracovia's cribs and America's extinct civilisations, which the gallery hosted in 1998. Such events constantly alternate with contemporary art exhibitions, like the one devoted to Art in Milan in the period 1946-59 or a Pietro Consagra recent exhibition entitled "Frontalità", which the gallery hosted in Autumn 2000.