One of the Everson's primary collections is of American paintings, with nearly 700 artworks that span two centuries.

Among the 19th century artists represented are Gilbert Stuart, Edward Hicks, Charles Loring Elliot, Eastman Johnson, Severin Roesin, Cecilia Beaux, Jane Peterson and Abbott Handerson Thayer. Early Modernists include Charles Hawthorne, Robert Henri, John Sloan, John Marin and Arthur B. Carles. Mid-century painting is represented by Jackson Pollock, Adolph Gottlieb, Milton Avery and Andrew Wyeth. A particular concentration in the collection, landscapes of New York State by New York State artists, is best represented by second-generation Hudson River School, tonalist, and impressionist painters, but also regionalist and early modernists (William Ongley, Sanford Gifford, Levi Wells Prentice, George Inness, Henry W. Ranger, Roswell S. Hill).

Paintings by 1960s abstractionists Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Al Held and Jules Olitski are also included in the collection, in addition to paintings, photographs and multimedia works from the 1980s by Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman, Les Levine, Nancy Spero, Malcolm Morley, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Philip Guston.

The Everson's sculpture collection comprises over 200 works primarily of the 20th century.

It includes pieces by many notable artists, including: Alexander Archipenko, Beverly Pepper, Leila Katzen, Ernest Trova, John DeAndrea, Claus Oldenberg, George Segal, Michael Tracy, Sol Lewitt, and Mary Frank.