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A woman with light colored skin, wearing a black top and white pants, talks to a group of people in a gallery room. She stands in front of a large, painted portrait of a woman in a high-collared red dress.
NMWA Tickets
National Museum of Women in the Arts

Inside the Dinner Party Studio

Sep 17, 2017, to Jan 5, 2018

Please note: Information about this exhibition is limited.

This exhibit explores the creation of Judy Chicago’s monumental and radical work The Dinner Party through archives, documentation, and film.
Over the course of nearly five years and with the help of hundreds of volunteers, Chicago executed one of the most iconic artworks of the 20th century, confronting the erasure of women from history using elaborate research, craft, and presentation.
The extraordinary complexity of The Dinner Party’s process is illustrated through test objects, designs, documentation, and revealing behind-the-scenes footage shot by filmmaker Johanna Demetrakas. From nascent ideas in a sketchbook to test plates and a textile template, visitors will see the historic record of this unique creation process.

Featured Artists

Judy Chicago

After more than four decades, Judy Chicago continues to be an influential feminist artist, author, and educator. Her work helped establish the Feminist Art Movement of the 1970s.
A light-skinned older woman with short purple-and-white hair smiles slightly, arms out to the side. She wears a blue sequin top with long black lace sleeves, a gold necklace, hoop earrings, and blue glasses. The sky and tree branches are behind her.