Urgent Museum Notice

Behind The Scenes

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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Alma Woodsey Thomas: Hidden History
Posted: September 21, 2020
Category: Behind The Scenes
Through collaborating with a research team from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), NMWA gained vivid new insight into beloved works by Washington, D.C., artistic icon Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891–1978).
Abstract painting composed of brightly colored, lozenge-shaped brushstrokes in vertical stripes of navy, purple, turquoise, yellow, orange and red.The overall effect is as if the painting was collaged out of torn pieces of paper, with the white of the canvas showing through.

NMWA @ Home: Creative Coping with Christina Knowles and Lori Brubaker Smith
Posted: May 11, 2020
Category: Behind The Scenes
As NMWA remains temporarily closed due to COVID-19, we check in with NMWA staff in their own homes for a personal look at the creative ways they’re staying connected, inspired,...
A flock of sheep rest on a green hill by the sea. In the center, two adults and a lamb lie in a group. Flat rocks are visible through the grass. The sky has rolling clouds, and a breeze is suggested by the waves crashing on rocks in the sea, which stretches to the horizon.

NMWA @ Home: Creative Coping with Carolyn Higgins and Fiona McNally
Posted: April 22, 2020
Category: Behind The Scenes
As NMWA remains temporarily closed due to COVID-19, we check in with staff for a personal look at the creative ways they’re staying connected, inspired, and grounded.
A still life painting featuring an asymmetrical arrangement of flowers; the central section features pink, orange, yellow, and blue flowers and is dramatically highlighted compared to the background and outer edge of arrangement.

NMWA @ Home: Creative Coping with Melani N. Douglass and Orin Zahra
Posted: April 13, 2020
Category: Behind The Scenes
As NMWA remains temporarily closed due to COVID-19, we check in with staff for a personal look at the creative ways they’re staying connected, inspired, and grounded.
A color photograph of a large, ornate room in a palace. The expansive floor is bare and empty. At the other end of the room, a large ornate mirror hangs between two dark wooden doors. The moldings and details above the doors and mirror are extravagantly designed and a dramatic mural is featured at the very top of the wall. In the mirror, a small figure is seen, seemingly the photographer.

NMWA @ Home: Creative Coping with Lynora Williams and Adrienne Poon
Posted: April 2, 2020
Category: Behind The Scenes
As NMWA remains temporarily closed due to COVID-19, we check in with staff for a personal look at the creative ways they’re staying connected, inspired, and grounded.
Large vertical painting in minimalist style features thinned pigments poured in translucent layers onto the unsized canvas. The abstract composition is dominated by a central ambiguous form in vibrant yellow-orange and peach, flanked by amorphous swaths of pale pink and a dark gray.

Heavy Lifting: Behind the Scenes of The Contour of Feeling
Posted: May 20, 2019
Category: Behind The Scenes
A frequent question from visitors to the museum’s Ursula von Rydingsvard exhibition is: how did you get these sculptures into the building? A conversation with NMWA Registrar Catherine Bade revealed...

Appreciating Architecture: #EmptyNMWA Instameet
Posted: July 18, 2016
Category: Behind The Scenes
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.

Camera-Sly: #EmptyNMWA Instameet
Posted: March 22, 2016
Category: Behind The Scenes
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.

#Instameets @WomenInTheArts
Posted: March 2, 2016
Category: Behind The Scenes
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.

Go Global with Mary
Posted: January 20, 2015
Category: Behind The Scenes
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.