The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C. that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University (part of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences) hosts exhibitions by its students and visiting artists and offers degrees in Fine Art, Photojournalism, Interaction Design, Interior Architecture, etc. Prior to the Corcoran Gallery of Art's closing, it was one of the oldest privately supported cultural institutions in the United States. Starting in 1890, the Corcoran School with 40 students and two faculty members, later known as the [Corcoran College of Art + Design in the 1990s], co-existed with the gallery. The museum's main focus was American art. In 2014, after decades of financial problems and mismanagement, the Corcoran was dissolved by court order. A new non-profit was established by the Trustees and the Corcoran's $2 billion, 17,000-piece art collection was given away for free to the National Gallery of Art (NGA). What works the NGA did not accession were donated to cultural institutions throughout Washington, D.C. and across the United States. The Corcoran College of Art and Design was given to George Washington University (GWU), renamed the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, along with the $200 million historic 17th Street building and $50 million. History Founding When the gallery was founded in 1869 by William Wilson Corcoran, the cofounder of Riggs Bank, it was one of the first fine art galleries in the country. Corcoran established the gallery, supported with an endowment, "for the perpetual establishment and encouragement of the Fine Arts." While an independent institution, the Corcoran was the oldest and largest non-federal art museum in the District of Columbia. Its mission was "dedicated to art and used solely for the purpose of encouraging the American genius." The Corcoran Gallery of Art was originally located at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, in the building that now houses the Renwick Gallery. Construction of that building started before the Civil War. The building, near completion, was used by the government as a warehouse during the Civil War. It was finally completed in 1874 and the gallery opened to the public. The 93 works on display at the gallery were described in detail by M.E.P. Bouligny in her tribute to Corcoran published in