funded by a $716,000 donation from the Cosbys and planned to bring attention to the museum for its 50th anniversary. As the number of allegations increased, the museum recognized public outcry against the exhibition by creating a sign that acknowledged the allegations and refocused attention on the show's artists and artworks, which remained on view. The Washington Post art and architecture critic Philip Kennicott wrote that the museum violated ethics and hurt its reputation by showcasing a private collection that had not been pledged to the museum. Kennicott challenged whether the painters of Cosby's blue chip collection would have been "silenced" by ending the exhibition early. Outreach The museum prioritized education in its early, pre-Smithsonian years. Its founder referred to the institution as "an education department with a museum attached". The museum had an intimate atmosphere and emphasized programs that taught black cultural heritage. Many children from local schools attended the museum, which hosted exhibits including an exercise on "how to look at art" in comparing traditional African and modern art. Through the '90s, school groups took guided tours with trained docents. The new location on the National Mall increased the museum's unguided visits. In the early 1980s, the Smithsonian found that few of its 20 million annual visitors were of a racial minority despite the city's large black population. It subsequently created a committee to address the disparity. As the African art museum had not yet moved to the National Mall, it served a black constituency in a racially mixed neighborhood, with racially integrated staff and programming popular among local school groups with its regular films, folk stories, and lectures. The museum also offered workshops on African stripweave and talking drum. Patton, the museum director in the mid-2000s, said that the museum was not well known in Washington, as only half of the taxi drivers knew its location. Patton's tenure included shows targeted towards children. As a result, the museum briefly served more children than adults. Around this time, the museum held about ten special events a year. The Washington Post wrote that the museum "struggled ... to attract visitors and donations" in 2016, which was exacerbated by the Cosby controversy. Reception At the National Mall building's opening, three New York Times reviewers criticized its design elements, namely the architect's choice of materials and lack of natural light underground. Architecture critic Paul Goldberger considered the above-ground elements a "clunky