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.

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

Visit Us

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.

We are open today from 10 am to 5 pm

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.

Holding Ground

An artist's book, opened to reveal a pop-up of many colorful flowers in a vase. The pages are dark with black writing.
In Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts nine new works by celebrated book artists inaugurate NMWA’s new Learning Commons and its reinvigorated Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center.

Hung Liu

An etching of a Chinese woman working at a wooden loom. Three colorful birds sit in the foreground of the print in front of the loom. Above the loom hovers a dream-like figure of a Chinese person wearing a long yellow robe. The figure is riding on a mystical red bird.
In Hung Liu: Making History “weeping” paintings and prints by Hung Liu features signature paint drips, layers of color, and cultural symbols that pay homage to overlooked figures in history, predominantly vulnerable women and children from the artist’s native China.

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.

Impressive

A black-and-white, horizontal print depicts multiple Roman-style male figures on horseback. They hold weapons or brass musical instruments and process, somewhat chaotically, towards the viewer's right.
The Entrance of the Emperor Sigismond into Mantua, an extraordinary series of 25 prints by 17th-century French artist Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella is presented at NMWA for the first time in almost 15 years in the exhibition Impressive: Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella.

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.

Explore Things to Do @ NMWA

Free Community Day

Date: Oct, 06
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

Free Community Day

Date: Oct, 09
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

Firsthand Experience: Bookmaking

Date: Oct, 12
Time: 10 am to 3 pm

NMWA Nights

Date: Oct, 16
Time: 5:30 to 8 pm

Closing Day: 4th Floor Exhibitions

Date: Oct, 20
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

Curator’s Perspective: Suchitra Mattai

Date: Oct, 23
Time: 6 to 7 pm

Art Chat @ Five: Lurking in the Shadows

Date: Oct, 25
Time: 5 to 5:45 pm

The Bigger Picture

Date: Oct, 27
Time: 2 to 3:30 pm

Free Community Day

Date: Nov, 03
Time: 10 am to 5 pm

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