Director’S Desk

View of the museum from outside showing the Neoclassical building from one corner. The building is a tan-colored stone with an arched doorway, long vertical windows, and detailed molding around the roof.
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Director’s Desk: Celebrating Mother’s Day Through Distinct Artistic Visions
Posted: May 6, 2020
Category: Director’S Desk
NMWA’s collection features many depictions of women and their families that offer varied perspectives and inspirations. Learn about work by artists Mary Cassatt, Elizabeth Catlett, Lola Álvarez Bravo, and Louise...
A black-and-white print of two dark-skinned individuals in profile, facing left. The person in the background is an older adult wearing a brimmed hat, and in the foreground and slightly to the right is a young child with coarse hair cut close to the head.

Director’s Desk: Fresh Talks Bridge Art & Science
Posted: April 8, 2020
Category: Director’S Desk
Over the past five seasons, we have brought prominent women in the arts together with individuals in other fields for 25 creative conversations on gender, equity, art, the environment, identity,...

A Letter From Susan Fisher Sterling
Posted: March 25, 2020
Category: Director’S Desk
Although NMWA is temporarily closed, we stand with our communities—both here and around the world. We are available online with artists, objects, and stories to lift the spirit, inspire the...
The phrase “What if Women Ruled the World” is sculpted with neon tubes of bright yellow, in all capital letters. The letters of “WOMEN” are larger than the rest and are configured vertically.

Director’s Desk: Built to Order
Posted: January 29, 2020
Category: Director’S Desk
The artists in NMWA's “Built to Order” gallery investigate human intervention in the natural world, considering the impact of structures, cities, and societies.
Eery photograph in blue tones of a concrete silo at night.

Director’s Desk: Roots to Routes
Posted: December 4, 2019
Category: Director’S Desk
Perhaps because of gendered, racial, and class-based expectations about a woman’s “place” in the world, many women artists examine the subjects of homelands and migration.
Close-up photograph of a painted quilt shows a medium-dark skinned woman dancing exuberantly. There is a white flower in her hair, and she wears dangling gold earrings and gold loops around her neck.

Director’s Desk: The Great Outdoors
Posted: October 9, 2019
Category: Director’S Desk
At NMWA, we regularly rotate our collection to spark new thematic connections. Museum director, Susan Fisher Sterling, explores "The Great Outdoors" from our most recent collection installation.
Two adolescent girls with light skin wearing matching blue uniforms float side-by-side on the edge of a grassy pond while holding hands.

Director’s Desk: Space Explorers
Posted: July 10, 2019
Category: Director’S Desk
NMWA director, Susan Fisher Sterling, examines the theme "Space Explorers" from our most recent collection installation. Spaces, both physical and metaphorical, often have strong gendered associations.

Director’s Desk: Family Matters
Posted: May 30, 2019
Category: Director’S Desk
When selecting subjects, artists and their patrons often turn to those closest to them: spouses, partners, children, parents, siblings, friends, and pets. Artists from all periods have created tender, naturalistic...
Gallery view with contemporary sculpture made of orange motor scooters that resemble two antlered animals fighting in foreground. Four paintings hang on a magenta wall in background, including a baroque painting of the Virgin and Child, and a portrait of a light-skinned man, women and children gathered together in eighteenth-century attire. To the left on a white wall hang two other paintings.

Director’s Desk: Rebels with a Cause
Posted: April 11, 2019
Category: Director’S Desk
Explore the themes featured in NMWA's most recent collection installation with NMWA director Susan Fisher Sterling.
Eight diverse women museum visitors are scattered throughout the NMWA collection galleries browsing the art on the walls.

Director’s Desk: Women Museum Directors Conquer D.C.
Posted: January 31, 2019
Category: Director’S Desk
Mark the date: March 11, 2019. It’s the day Kaywin Feldman becomes the fifth director of the National Gallery of Art. No woman has held the post before.