WASHINGTON—The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is pleased to present a major reinstallation of its collection galleries with an expansive array of paintings, photographs and sculptures, including recent acquisitions, rarely exhibited works and familiar favorites. The new installation features collection highlights that emphasize diversity and enhance connections between historical and contemporary art.
Organized by six themes—Family Matters, Roots to Routes, Rebels with a Cause, Built to Order, Space Explorers and the Great Outdoors—each gallery examines subjects that engage women artists worldwide. A selection of recently announced gifts from the trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art are also displayed at NMWA for the first time, including Marisol’s The Large Family Group, Niki de Saint-Phalle’s Pregnant Nana and Kiki Smith’s Breast Jar, among others.
“To ensure engaging visitor experiences in our galleries, we are pleased to rehang our collection as it grows and evolves in thematic focus,” said NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling. “In art museums, installations organized by historical chronology have often been an obstacle to the inclusion of women artists, since they only started appearing in sizable numbers in the 20th century. This is especially true for women artists of color.”
Featuring more than 150 works, NMWA’s new installation highlights renowned artists such as Chakaia Booker, Mary Cassatt, Judy Chicago, Sonya Clark, Lavinia Fontana, the Guerrilla Girls, Candida Höfer, Frida Kahlo, Barbara Kruger, Nikki S. Lee, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Berthe Morisot, Shirin Neshat, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Ruysch, Cindy Sherman, Amy Sherald, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Mickalene Thomas, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Anne Truitt and Remedios Varo. In addition to the recently announced gifts from the trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, select works of art on view at NMWA for the first time include objects by Marina Abramović, Margaret Bourke-White, Florence Henri, Mwangi Hutter, Zanele Muholi, Pansy Napangati, Ruth Orkin, Rosângela Rennó, Laurie Simmons, Mildred Thompson and Grazia Toderi.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. With its collections, exhibitions, programs and online content, the museum seeks to inspire dynamic exchanges about art and ideas. NMWA advocates for better representation of women artists and serves as a vital center for thought leadership, community engagement and social change. NMWA addresses the gender imbalance in the presentation of art by bringing to light important women artists of the past while promoting great women artists working today. The collections highlight painting, sculpture, photography and video by artists including Louise Bourgeois, Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Shirin Neshat, Faith Ringgold, Pipilotti Rist and Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun.
NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C. It is open Mon.–Sat., 10 a.m.–5 p.m., and Sun., noon–5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for visitors 65 and over and students, and free for NMWA members and youth 18 and under. Admission is free the first Sunday of each month. For information, call 202-783-5000, visit nmwa.org, Broad Strokes Blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.