Rotating exhibitions emphasize regional, national, and international contemporary art.

The collection was created in 1945 as a memorial to C. Law Watkins, the former chair of the Department of Art at American University.

[2] The Corcoran Legacy Collection includes more than 9,000 works of art from the Corcoran Gallery of Art and includes works by Titian, Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, Albrecht Dürer, Helen Frankenthaler and the Washington Color School.

[3] Jack Rasmussen, the museum's curator, focuses on rotating exhibitions that emphasize regional, national, international, and contemporary art and artists.

Approximately 24 exhibitions are mounted annually across the museum's 44,000 square foot space.