Urgent Museum Notice

CHAMPION WOMEN THROUGH THE ARTS

View of the gallery shows an eye-catching marble sculpture in the foreground and a visitor looking at multiple brightly colored artworks in the background. The abstract scupture is of a voluptuous figure with pregnant belly covered in bright patterns and posed with outstretched arms. View of the gallery shows an eye-catching marble sculpture in the foreground and a visitor looking at multiple brightly colored artworks in the background. The abstract scupture is of a voluptuous figure with pregnant belly covered in bright patterns and posed with outstretched arms.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts.

  • Night view of city street shows a large sculpture made of eight half-tires arranged into stacked hourglass shapes. Engravings, gold leaf, and green light on the interior of the tires decorate the structure. Light trails from cars frame the sculpture on both sides.
  • Oblique view of gallery with a Baroque painting of the Madonna and Child in a gilded frame on magenta wall at right. In the distance, three more framed works hang on the same wall. Painting on the adjacent white wall is of a reclining figure with a bandage on chest.
  • Two young children with medium skin tone stand in front of a dog sculpture covered with green crochet panels. One child stands with hands on hips, eyes turned to look directly at the viewer, and gives a slight smirk. Adult visitors in the background look at the scene with amusement.

Visit Us

Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., the National Museum of Women in the Arts brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities.

Plan Your Visit

We are open today from 10 am to 5 pm

Related Fact about Women in the Arts

Just 11% of all acquisitions at prominent American museums over the past decade were of work by women artists.
— Artnet News

What We Do

Our rotating special exhibitions showcase work by established and emerging women artists. Museum programs and events build strong, engaged local communities and foster conversations and connections that inspire change. Our collections feature more than 5,500 works from the 16th century to today created by more than 1,000 artists.

Two women look closely at artwork on the gallery wall.
Photo credit: Kevin Allen

Related Quote

Great art should be viewed, valued, and supported especially work by women.”
NMWA Member

Stay in the Know

Enter your email to be among the first to know about our upcoming programs and new ways to champion women in the arts.

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Two figures stand facing a large colorful work on paper. The figure on the left is dark skinned with short, curly, brown hair, the figure on the right is light skinned with long, straight, blonde hair. The work on paper depicts a seated dark skin person staring confidently at the viewer; an overlay of bright orange and circular patterns of white, blue, and brown circles covers the person and background.
Photo credit: Sancha McBurnie

Photo credit: Sancha McBurnie

Related Quote

People in the art world want to think we are achieving parity more quickly than we are.”
Susan Fisher Sterling, The Alice West Director

Advocate for Women

Women artists have been marginalized for centuries. Gender bias is less overt today, but contemporary women artists still face many obstacles and disparities, as well as persistent underrepresentation in museum collections and exhibitions worldwide. Their historical precursors still deserve to have their stories told.

Take Action
Close-up photograph of a painted quilt shows a medium-dark skinned woman dancing exuberantly. There is a white flower in her hair, and she wears dangling gold earrings and gold loops around her neck.
Faith Ringgold, American Collection #4: Jo Baker’s Bananas (detail), 1997; Photo credit: Emily Haight, NMWA

Faith Ringgold, American Collection #4: Jo Baker’s Bananas (detail), 1997; Photo credit: Emily Haight, NMWA

Explore Things to Do @ NMWA

  • Art Chat @ Five: #5WomenArtists

    Date: Mar, 05
    Time: 5 to 5:45 pm

  • The Tea: Black Alley

    Date: Mar, 05
    Time: 12 to 1 pm

  • Wikipedia Art+Feminism Virtual Edit-a-thon

    Date: Mar, 06
    Time: 10 am to 1 pm

  • Free Community Day

    Date: Mar, 07
    Time: 12 to 5 pm

  • International Women’s Day: Virtual Festival

    Date: Mar, 08
    Time: 11 am to 7:30 pm

  • BMA x NMWA Monthly Talk Show: In Relation

    Date: Mar, 09
    Time: 12 to 12:45 pm

  • Collection Highlights Talk

    Date: Mar, 10
    Time: 5:30 to 6:30 pm

  • Art Chat @ Five: #5WomenArtists

    Date: Mar, 12
    Time: 5 to 5:45 pm

  • Teacher Program: Art Educators Unite—I Am!

    Date: Mar, 13
    Time: 10 am to 12 pm
    • View Calendar

    Featured Exhibition

    Featured Blog Post

    Director’s Desk: Editing for Equity

    Join us for our next Wikipedia Edit-a-thon this Saturday, March 6, when we will improve or create entries for women artists of African descent whose work is in NMWA’s collection.
    A woman with ombré dreadlocks sits at a table working on her laptop. Two other women are doing the same thing at different tables directly behind and in front of the woman.
    Participants at NMWA’s 2018 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon; Photo by Traci Christensen, NMWA

    @WomenInTheArts