Corcoran College of Art + Design

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 College of Art + Design and The Smithsonian Associates collaborate to offer a Master of Arts degree in the History of Decorative Arts. Combining the record of educational and cultural excellence held by these two world-renowned institutions, the graduate-degree program provides students with an unparalleled academic experience.

Masters Program students have the opportunity to study with a distinguished faculty of leading decorative arts experts and curators, taking advantage of the collections at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and the availability of nearby collections of incomparable museums, historic houses, and design galleries in the Washington, D.C., region. The degree program offers students object-based academic study balanced with professsional connoisseurship training afforded by extraordinary behind-the-scenes access.