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National Museum of Women in the Arts

Nmwa Exhibitions

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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Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam: Networks
Posted: December 30, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
Women were crucial to the artistic economy of the Low Countries, and female labor was a significant factor in the unprecedented expansion of trade and the thriving market for art...
Still life painting features a reddish ceramic colander with several types of fish. In the foreground, a cat stands alert next to shrimp and oyster shells on a gleaming pewter dish.

Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam: Choices
Posted: December 19, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
The options available to women artists in this period, whether to marry, pursue specialized training, and much more, depended largely on their social class and family connections.
A woman wearing a black veil and white religious habit stands indoors, holding a book. The background shows stone columns and an arched window revealing a cloudy sky and distant landscape.

Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move
Posted: December 16, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
Drawn from NMWA’s collection of works by Orkin, this exhibition explores the experience of women in public spaces, the artist’s own life, and her artful inversion of the “male gaze.”
A black-and-white photograph of a young woman with light skin tone and brown hair wearing a black dress and a scarf and clutching a book and a bag walks down a city sidewalk. Several men watch her walk by, some standing against the wall of a nearby building, some sitting on chairs or motorcycles. A few men seem to be catcalling her.

Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam: Presence
Posted: December 11, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
Portraits of women artists, their signatures, and existing works in a wide range of mediums and genres attest to their presence during the 17th and early 18th centuries.
A woman in 17th-century attire sits at an easel, holding brushes and a palette, painting a man playing the violin. She wears a lace ruff and looks toward the viewer with a slight smile.

Tawny Chatmon: Sanctuaries of Truth, Dissolution of Lies
Posted: November 3, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
Through her layered, photography-based art, Chatmon addresses racist myths and elevates cultural truths, celebrating Black families and traditions.
A photograph of a young Black girl in profile, looking down at her hands. Her dress and the image's background are covered in gold leaf. The background features a motif of birds and spirals.

Niki de Saint Phalle In Print
Posted: October 23, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
Twenty never-before-exhibited prints from the museum’s collection reveal Saint Phalle’s unique vision of the powers at work in our universe.
A colorful and print features an abstracted landscape crowded with surreal, cartoon-like figures, geometric shapes, and handwritten labels, such as “The Empress,” “The High Priestess,” and “Justice.” The background features waves, patterns, and symbols, all in overlapping vivid colors.

Now Open: Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750
Posted: September 26, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
NMWA's newest exhibition celebrates women artists from the 17th-century Low Countries, challenging their historical obscurity and showcasing their diverse contributions to art.
An elaborate floral arrangement painted with precise detail appears dramatically spot lit against a dark background. Large red and pink blooms dominate, interspersed with small yellow, white, and blue blossoms and varied foliage. Moths and other insects a

Guerrilla Girls: Making Trouble
Posted: September 9, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
This year marks the Guerrilla Girls’ 40th anniversary. NMWA celebrates this milestone with an exhibition of the group’s posters from the 1980s and ’90s alongside recent prints.
A large yellow wall with black text that says "Guerrilla Girls Making Trouble." On both sides of the text is an image of a figure wearing all black and a gorilla mask.

Uncanny: Unsafe Spaces
Posted: June 9, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
NMWA’s special exhibition gives form to women artists’ powerful expressions of existential unease. In this series, Associate Curator Orin Zahra dives deep into the exhibition’s themes and artworks.
A woman with medium-dark skin tone in historical attire with a large striped gown poses indoors. She wears a powdered wig, and a small white dog sits by her side. A painted background depicts a pastoral scene with a vignette of a violent assault.

Now Open: A Radical Alteration
Posted: May 1, 2025
Category: Nmwa Exhibitions
Elizabeth Ajunwa, director of NMWA’s Library and Research Center, spoke with curator Maymanah Farhat about NMWA's newest exhibition.
A collection of newsletters printed on light pink, blue, yellow, and white paper is arranged neatly on a white background.