more than 1000 visitors for this popular outdoor film series. The museum's many other programs include a summer arts camp and after-school program, established in 2009. AVAM is also a popular venue for weddings, hosting over 70 weddings annually. Rental/admission fees accounted for 72% of earned income in 2011, nearly three times the average for an art museum. AVAM is seeking to raise a $25 million endowment before “exploring the many offers to establish a West coast branch.” Mission Hoffberger has said that “a good museum does more than just have objects that stand there on pedestals. The great ones are all muse-based, connecting viewers to the heart of inspiration.” AVAM's educational goals are another example of the museum's unorthodoxy. They are: Expand the definition of a worthwhile life Engender respect for and delight in the gift of others Increase awareness of the wide variety of choices available in life for all ... particularly students Encourage each individual to build upon his or her own special knowledge and inner strengths Promote the use of innate intelligence, intuition, self-exploration and creative self-reliance Confirm the great hunger for finding out just what each of us can do best, in our own voice, at any age. Empower the individual to choose to do that something really, really well. These same goals were adopted by The Lower East Side Girls Club when it was founded in 1996. Reception At the time of the museum's 1995 opening, it had been reported that Hoffberger's rejection of academic scholarship and her refusal to follow tradition perhaps had upset prominent members of the art world. Despite this, the museum won the support of collectors, critics, and the public through its exhibitions that examine the relationship of art to the human condition rather than to the canon of art history. In her inaugural address, Hoffberger stated that “the American Visionary Art Museum opens its doors of perception not in an effort to make war on academic or institutionalized learning, but to create a place where the best of self-taught, intuitive contributions of all kinds will be duly recognized, explored, and then championed in a clear strong voice.” Since its designation—by a unanimous vote of the U.S. Congress—as America's "official national education center, repository and museum for self-taught, intuitive artistry," the museum has produced 18 thematic "mega-exhibitions" (as of 2012); added The Jim Rouse Visionary Center (in 2004) which more