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National Museum of Women in the Arts

Upcoming Exhibitions

Close-up detail of an abstract painting with very thick and gestural brushstrokes of mostly orange paint.

Featured Upcoming Exhibition

Oct 15, 2025, to Mar 8, 2026
Through her photography-based art, Tawny Chatmon (b. 1979, Tokyo, Japan) addresses racist myths and elevates cultural truths. She centers and celebrates Black childhood and family bonds while also recontextualizing dehumanizing dolls, figurines, and food histories. Chatmon intensifies and embellishes her large-scale photographs through both digital techniques and meticulous handmade elements. She elongates the bodies of her models, heightens their features, and adds mosaic-like and embroidered patterns. Presenting these powerful works in ornate frames, Chatmon honors the preciousness of her subjects.
View Exhibition: Tawny Chatmon: Sanctuaries of Truth, Dissolution of Lies
A person with dark skin tone in a black-and-gold ornate dress with gold chain details wears a wide-brimmed hat decorated with gold fringe and plants, obscuring their eyes. The background shows a cloudy sky.
Tawny Chatmon, Not Your Blackamoor, from the series “The Restoration,” 2025; Cowrie shells, acrylic, and thread on archival pigment print, 38 x 36 in.; Courtesy of the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art

All Upcoming Exhibitions

  • Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move

    Dec 12, 2025, to Mar 29, 2026
    From the Second World War through the 1970s, renowned photojournalist Ruth Orkin portrayed women breaking free from rigid gender roles. This presentation of 21 vintage photographs from NMWA’s collection tells the story of artists, military servicewomen, mothers, couples, teachers, and travelers forging new paths in the changed world around them.
    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.

    Ruth Orkin, American Girl in Italy, 1951 (printed 1980 by Ruth Orkin Estate); Gelatin silver print, 23 x 28 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Promised gift of Steven Scott, Baltimore, in honor of NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling

  • Women to Watch 2027: A Book Arts Revolution

    Apr 11 to Aug 15, 2027
    Women to Watch 2027: A Book Arts Revolution is a dynamic exploration of contemporary artists’ books, works of art in book form. The exhibition encourages audiences to rethink the nature of book arts, featuring works that incorporate a wide variety of materials and formats. This is the latest edition of the museum’s hallmark exhibition series highlighting national and international artists at key stages in their careers. The series is developed through a unique collaboration between the museum and its global network of outreach committees.
    A person with curly brown hair, a white cable knit sweater, and a blue skirt reads a booklet on a black table, in front of an art work of grey and beige cloths installed on the wall.

    Attendees at the May 2024 NMWA Nights. Photo by Derek Baker for NMWA.