The Corcoran College of Art and Design, (Originally the Corcoran School of Art), founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art. The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and largest private art museum. The gallery opened officially in 1874, originally built to house the collection of its founder, William Wilson Corcoran One of America's oldest art institutions, it predates both New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is known around the world for its collection of historic and modern American art as well as European fine art and for its collection of decorative arts. William Wilson Corcoran founded the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869. He donated additional funding to establish the school in 1878. The Corcoran’s evolving collection includes more than 17,000 works and objects and is considered one of the best American art collections in the world. Gallery 31 is the Corcoran’s dedicated exhibition space for the Corcoran College of Art + Design.