National Museum of Women in the Arts

A vintage tapestry depicting three women and one man in a pastoral scene. One woman sits atop a swing while the others sit beneath her. The man holds the rope of the swing. Bright thread and beads are sewn over the original tapestry, and all four figures skin and hair have been darkened with brown and black thread. A vintage tapestry depicting three women and one man in a pastoral scene. One woman sits atop a swing while the others sit beneath her. The man holds the rope of the swing. Bright thread and beads are sewn over the original tapestry, and all four figures skin and hair have been darkened with brown and black thread.

Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter

Visit the second floor to experience Suchitra Mattai’s layered installations exploring themes of identity and belonging.

Learn More About the Exhibition

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Located in the heart of Washington, DC, the National Museum of Women in the Arts advocates for better representation of women artists and serves as a vital center for thought leadership, community engagement, and social change.

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Two museum visitors are viewing an artwork. The artwork is a black-and-white close-up portrait of a woman's face. She has a dark skin tone and is holding her face in her hands.

Mezzanine level of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Photo by Joy Asico-Smith for NMWA

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 historic and contemporary artwork. Museum programs and events 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.

A modern museum gallery is photographed at a wide angle. It features several inset bays in which art of various sizes and mediums is hung. In the foreground, a marble sculpture depicts an abstracted, voluptuous figure with a pregnant belly. The figure is covered in bright patterns and posed stepping forward, with raised, outstretched arms.
Niki de Saint Phalle’s Pregnant Nana (1995) greets visitors in the new collection galleries; Photo by Jennifer Hughes for NMWA

Current Exhibitions

Suchitra Mattai

A large fabric tapestry made of multicolored saris and gold tinsel mounted on a white wall. Five beaded tassels hang from the bottom of the fabric.
In Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter, Mattai layers vintage and contemporary materials into three- and two-dimensional works about identity and belonging.
View Suchitra Mattai

In Focus

A rendering of the gallery entrance of sliding glass doors with gold rim and the words "In Focus: Artists at Work" in white. A light-skinned man holding the hand of a light-skinned young girl walk toward the entrance. Beyond the glass doors, there are people watching three large video screens. Art Processors' logo is in the bottom right corner.
In Focus: Artists at Work provides a close-up look into the practices and perspectives of eight contemporary collection artists via short documentary-style videos.
View In Focus

Remix

A horizontal canvas combines collaged paper, such as a scrap of a U.S. map, comic strip, and pictographs; cloth swatches; scrawled and dripped paint; and phrases like “It takes hard work to keep racism alive” and “Oh! Zone.” The work’s title appears in red paint right of center.
Remix: The Collection showcases familiar collection favorites as well as never-before-exhibited recent acquisitions. Artworks are grouped around themes that resonate among global artists across time.
View Remix

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 Gender Equity

Historically, social and cultural systems based on false beliefs about gender have hindered artists’ power, access, and agency. 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.

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Related Quote

Our building symbolizes, and houses, women’s great contributions to the history of art.”
Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, Founder

Support Us

NWMA was born from an auspicious act of philanthropy, and donors make our work possible.

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Watercolor of NMWA building

Watercolor of NMWA building

Explore Things to Do @ NMWA

NMWA Nights

Date: Nov, 20
Time: 5:30 to 8 pm

Art Chat @ Five: Material Matters

Date: Nov, 22
Time: 5 to 5:45 pm

Free Community Day & Makers’ Market

Date: Dec, 01
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

NMWA in Focus: Who Put That There?

Date: Dec, 09
Time: 2:30 to 4 pm

Members Shopping Day

Date: Dec, 09
Time: 4 to 6 pm

Free Community Day

Date: Dec, 11
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

Fresh Talk: Suchitra Mattai and Aruna D’Souza

Date: Dec, 11
Time: 6 to 8 pm

Art Chat @ Five

Date: Dec, 27
Time: 5 to 5:45 pm

Free Community Day

Date: Jan, 05
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

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