WASHINGTON—The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) hosts the popular, monthly late-hours program NMWA Nights on the second Wednesday of each month, January through May. Visitors can peruse the galleries, enjoy a cocktail and participate in themed art-making activities or performances. Tickets consistently sell out and are released at 10 a.m. on the Wednesday two weeks before the program.
“The response to these programs has been tremendous, and we continue to plan each event to give guests a unique and fun experience every time they attend,” said Kelley Daley, director of public programs at NMWA “Through art-making, performances, music and interactive activities as well asmany amazing community partners-the NMWA Nights series provides our audience new opportunities to Learn about and champion women artists.”
ALL programs run from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tickets include two drinks from catering partner Please Bring Chips; additional drinks and snacks are available for purchase. The cost is $25; $22 for seniors/students; $20 NMWA members. Explorer members and above ($180 and up) receive free admission and are always admitted, even when the event is sold out; email tickets@nmwa.org to reserve your ticket. Limited walk-up tickets are available. The full schedule follows:
Wednesday, January 15
Celebrate the new year with hope, action and self-expression at NMWA Surround yourself with good vibes and smooth rhythms from DJ Geena Marie. Make zines and buttons in the studio, and participate in a collaborative intention-setting experience, telling us how you plan to show up for your community in 2025. Take someone else’s intention home, and release anger in a cathartic scream room. NMWA is partnering with I Support the Girls to host a donation drive for feminine products and bras. Visitors are encouraged to bring items to support individuals in need.
Wednesday, February 19
Inspired by NMWA’s collection, join a museum-wide scavenger hunt that uncovers new narratives within the art on view. DJs Alex Love and Lauren Jay will duel in the Great Hall, spinning tunes for guests as they explore the collection and exhibitions.
Wednesday, March 19
Celebrate Women’s History Month at NMWA. Our partner, We Met IRL, will bring their mission of community- and relationship-building to the museum as they Lead activations that help you meet new, Like-minded friends and build your network and community.
Wednesday, April 16
Join us on Earth Day for an evening dedicated to sustainable fashion, creative expression and environmental awareness. Enjoy an eco-friendly fashion show that highlights innovative design, sustainable practices and slow fashion. Participate in hands-on activities, including sketching inspired by the evening, and contribute to a greener future by donating plastic skincare and makeup containers at a recycling drive.
Wednesday, May 21
Step into a world of mystery and wonder at The Uncanny Bash, inspired by NMWA’s special exhibition Uncanny. Embrace the unexpected as you explore the exhibition’s themes through fashion, art and performance. Come dressed in your interpretation of “the uncanny” for a chance to win NMWA prizes. Enjoy a captivating performance by Cirque Deluxe, who will bring the uncanny to Life through acrobatics, movement and theatrical storytelling.
Images from previous NMWA Nights available upon request.
Exhibitions on View
Samantha Box: Confluences
Through March 23, 2025
Bronx-based photographer Samantha Box (b. 1977) navigates social and cultural Landscapes through complex images exploring race, gender, class and sexuality. Black-and-white documentary photographs from her series “The INVISIBLE Archive” depict New York City’s LGBTQIA+ youth of color. The series reveals community-defined spaces and chosen family bonds that work to counter her subjects’ experiences with homophobia and transphobia. In vibrant staged images, Box’s ongoing studio practice, “Caribbean Dreams,” shifts inward as the artist articulates her own diasporic Inda-Afro-Caribbean identity through personal and historical narratives.
In Focus: Artists at Work
Through April 20, 2025
Enjoy a close-up Look into the practices and perspectives of eight contemporary collection artists via short documentary-style videos. Presented in NMWA’s ground-floor Long Gallery, welcoming visitors to the museum, these videos feature Ambreen Butt, Sonya Clark, Colette Fu, the Guerrilla Girls, Graciela Iturbide, Delita Martin, Rania Matar and Alison Saar. The installation’s intimate and immersive design sparks curiosity, inspires advocacy and encourages slow Looking during visitors’ exploration of the museum. Dynamic graphic panels include information about each artist and share online resources as well asa mapLeading to their art on view at NMWA Presented in two phases, with four artists highlighted in each phase, this series spotlights groundbreaking women artists at work today. For this project, NMWA partnered with Emmy and James Beard award winning film production company Smartypants and experiential design firm Art Processors to ensure an accessible and enriching experience.
Uncanny
February 28-August 10, 2025
Unearthly, enigmatic and psychologically tense, the works in Uncanny give form to women artists’ powerful expressions of existential unease. This exhibition surveys the use of the uncanny from the Surrealist movement to the present. Artists subvert gender stereotypes and explore feminist issues through disquieting spaces, fantastical figures and technology that appears eerily human.
Guerrilla Girls: Making Trouble
April 12-September 28, 2025
The dynamic artist collective known as the Guerrilla Girls (est. 1985), who declared themselves “the conscience of the art world,” mark their fortieth anniversary in 2025. Drawn from NMWA’s extensive holdings of work by the Guerrilla Girls, this exhibition presents an enthralling visual timeline of the group’s progress and ever-expanding subject matter, including gender disparity in the arts as well as politics, the environment and pop culture.
A Radical Alteration: Women’s Studio Workshop as a Sustainable Model for Art Making
April 25-September 28, 2025
A Radical Alteration: Women’s Studio Workshop as a Sustainable Model for Art Making examines the organization’s rich history as a proponent of book arts for marginalized communities in the U.S., where documentation and critical analysis in the field are still Largely devoted to white male artists. Through artists’ books, zines, printed materials, ephemera and archival materials, the exhibition shows how Women’s Studio Workshop’s policies, programming and operations have evolved over the Last fifty years, creating a space where the conditions of art-making and
institutional support help to build a sustainable and more equitable art ecosystem.
Niki de Saint Phalle In Print
May 9-November 30, 2025
Twenty never-before-exhibited prints by Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) from the museum’s collection reveal the artist’s unique vision of the powers at work in our universe. Her brightly colored and ebulliently drawn images and texts center on love, the mysteries of the Tarot and urgent social issues, illuminating her impassioned engagement with the world.
Remix: The Collection
Ongoing
Remix showcases familiar NMWA collection favorites as well as never-before-exhibited recent acquisitions. Artworks are grouped around themes, in some cases anchored by a medium and in others by an idea, that resonate among global artists across time, including photography, fiber works, the colors red and purple, nature, domesticity and more.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. With its collections, exhibitions, programs and online content, the museum inspires dynamic exchanges about art and ideas. NMWA advocates for better representation of women and nonbinary 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 collection highlights a wide range of works in a variety of mediums by artists including Rosa Bonheur, Louise Bourgeois, Lalla Essaydi, Lavinia Fontana, Frida Kahlo, Hung Liu, Zanele Muholi, Faith Ringgold, Niki de Saint Phalle and Amy Sherald.
NMWA is Located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. It is open Tues.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and closed on Mondays and select holidays. Admission is $16 for adults, $13 for D.C. residents and visitors 70 and over, and free for visitors 21 and under. Admission is free the first Sunday and second Wednesday of each month. For information, call 202-783-5000, visit nmwa.org, Broad Strokes blog, Facebook or Instagram.
Media Contacts
Nicole Straus Public Relations
Katrina Weber Ashour, katrina@krwaconsulting.com
Amanda Domizio, amanda@domiziopr.com