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Two museum visitors observe works of art in a modern gallery.
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National Museum of Women in the Arts

Library And Research Center

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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Images that Tell a Story: The First Woman Graphic Novelist
Posted: September 29, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
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.

Graphic Novels to Watch Out For: “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel
Posted: September 23, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
Alongside the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center’s current exhibition, The First Woman Graphic Novelist: Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová, the library’s display shelves currently feature fantastic contemporary graphic novels by women....
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.

Isabella d’Este: Trend-Setter
Posted: June 13, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
If you do not remember Isabella d’Este from history books, you might remember her from Judy Chicago’s iconic installation The Dinner Party, where d’Este was given her own place setting!
A place setting at a table with a white tablecloth. On an embroidered cloth, the text reads "Isabella d’Este." A blue and golden plate and a golden and white jug are placed onto the cloth.

LRC Book Review: Life Stories of Women Artists, 1550–1880
Posted: May 29, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
A recent acquisition at the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center, this compilation includes 46 biographical narratives written by the artists’ contemporaries, more than half of which are newly...
A detailed engraving portrays a large, black and tan lizard with a white belly in precise detail. Facing right and positioned over a green surface and a hatching egg, the reptile bites a long, red and black snake attacking another egg and curling around the lizard's tail.

Controversial Representations of Sexuality in Feminist Art
Posted: April 18, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
Judy Chicago’s installation The Dinner Party premiered in San Francisco on March 1979. Soon after, it received backlash from the public because the recurring “butterfly” motif in Chicago’s dinner plates...
Installation view of a gallery space with purple walls. Several colorful art pieces are hanging on the wall. On one wall, the text says: Judy Chicago, circa '75.

Including the Excluded: NMWA’s Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Posted: March 25, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
The internet has become one of the most readily used resources for answers to myriad questions. A quick Google keyword search will often land a Wikipedia link for inquiring minds...
Several people are sitting next to each other on their laptops, looking up. Two large paintings are hanging behind them.

Anita Steckel: Fighting Censorship and Double Standards
Posted: January 28, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
According to materials from the archive of artist Anita Steckel, before she revealed her solo exhibition The Sexual Politics of Feminist Art at Rockville Community College in 1973, a female...
A book is lying in a glass case. The book shows text and a black-and-white photographic portrait of a woman's face.

Anita Steckel: Equal Exposure
Posted: January 13, 2014
Category: Library And Research Center
In the 1960s and 1970s, Anita Steckel fought for the public acceptance of explicitly sexual art made by women, as part of the broader feminist art movement that was pushing...
A book is lying in a glass case. The book shows text and a black-and-white photographic portrait of a woman's face.

From the Archives: Catharina Baart Biddle
Posted: May 1, 2012
Category: Library And Research Center
The Library and Research Center at the National Museum of Women in the Arts recently accepted an archival donation from the estate of artist Catharina Baart Biddle (1912–2005). The wealth...
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.

Ask Heather Monthly Feature: Treasures of the Library and Research Center: exploring the Doris Lee Archive
Posted: July 1, 2011
Category: Library And Research Center
Want to know more about a lesser-known woman artist? The history of NMWA? A history of fashion worn to NMWA Galas? Heather Slania, director of NMWA’s Library and Research Center,...
Two rows of colorfully painted fruits on a white background, mostly red apples with slices cut out of them. Other fruits depicted include plums, a banana, grapes, a green apple, and a lemon.