The Verein zur Förderung künstlerischer Projekte mit gesellschaftlicher Relevanz e.V. was founded on 28 January 1986 by nine artists from Wiesbaden, initially as a platform for the realization of their own exhibition projects. The name "Verein zur Durchführung künstlerischer Projekte mit gesellschaftlicher Relevanz" (Association for the realization of artistic projects with social relevance) made this clear. The self-imposed claim was also fulfilled with the exhibition "Illness and Death" (1986) in the former Nerotal Clinic, now the thalhaus.

In the fall of 1993, when the city wanted to give up the Bellevue Gallery at Wilhelmstrasse 32 due to tight finances, the then chairmen Helmut Schulze and Gottfried Hafemann persuaded the city to allow the association to use the exhibition space with financial support from the city and also to award the two scholarships previously granted by the city through the association.(Bellevue Hall Scholarship)

The exhibition venue is a special one. For decades, the hall with its Art Nouveau-style ceiling was the dining room of the renowned Hotel Bellevue. The Bellevue Gallery became the Bellevue Hall and the association changed its name, replacing "implementation" with "promotion" of artistic projects. For many, it is simply the Bellevue-Saal-Verein. The initial nine members of the association have since grown to 150, around 40 percent of whom are artists.

The concept presented at the time has endured to this day and has given the exhibitions of contemporary art in the Bellevue-Saal its very own profile. Under the formula 1:1, an artist 'from here' and an artist 'from outside' jointly develop a concept for an exhibition, which often has an experimental character.

Eight exhibitions are held each year. Five follow the above principle, the other three are solo exhibitions. At the end of their four-month stay in Wiesbaden, the scholarship holders show the works they have created here. And in the "Artists over 60" series, older artists whose work deserves greater public attention are presented.

There have only been juried member exhibitions on certain occasions, for example in 2005 after the tsunami disaster "100 Works for Sri Lanka" to support a school project in Sri Lanka with the proceeds, and for the 2008 Palliative Congress in Wiesbaden "Life at the End of Life".

The first "Klang-Kunst-Festival UND" took place in 1997, followed by two more in 1999 and 2001.

In 2006, the association received the Cultural Award of the State Capital of Wiesbaden. From 2014, the association officially bears the name "Kunstverein Bellevue-Saal" with the old name as a subtitle.