Susan Fisher Sterling receives ArtTable’s 30th Honors Award

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.
April 28, 2011
4/28/11

WASHINGTON—Susan Fisher Sterling, Director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), has received ArtTable’s 30th Honors Award. ArtTable, the national organization for professional women in the visual arts, recognized 30 leading women whose contributions have transformed the field of the visual arts over the past three decades.

The art world luminaries were honored at ArtTable’s 30th Anniversary Gala Benefit held in New York City on Saturday, April 16 at the Museum of Modern Art. The event was chaired by Agnes Gund and Patricia Phelps de Cisneros.

“Women have always been a driving force in the visual arts,” said Lowery Stokes Sims, ArtTable President and Curator of the Museum of Arts & Design. “This is reflected in the leaders we’re recognizing during our celebration and the impact that they have had on the landscape of the art world. They are exemplars of professional and personal excellence, whose influence guides us as we consider the future of the field and ArtTable’s role in advancing women’s leadership.”

Sterling joined the National Museum of Women in the Arts in 1988 as associate curator, was promoted to curator of modern and contemporary art in 1990, chief curator in 1994, and was appointed deputy director in 2001. Sterling significantly expanded the Museum’s holdings in contemporary photography and photo-based art, abstract painting and sculpture since 1960, and feminist art. She was named Director of NMWA on March 7, 2008. In her 23 years at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), Sterling has enhanced the Museum’s reputation and furthered its mission in expanding equity for women through excellence in the arts.

Profiles of Sterling, her co-honorees, and their recommendations of younger “women to watch” are found in the 30th Anniversary section of ArtTable’s website, www.arttable.org.

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ArtTable is a 501c3 that was founded in 1980 by a group of professional women in the visual arts to foster greater support, recognition and opportunities among their peers. As Founding President Lila Harnett explains, “Information was exchanged, and we became a mutually helpful society with a mission to promote the interests of professional women in the arts.” Over the course of the past 30 years, the organization steadily expanded from an informal group into a professional network of more than 1,500 women. The expanding membership is inclusive of women in all stages of their careers who exemplify leadership in the visual arts.

National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA)

National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum’s collection features 3,000 works from the 16th century to the present by more than 800 artists. The museum also conducts multidisciplinary programs for diverse audiences and maintains a Library and Research Center. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. It is open Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday, noon–5 p.m. Admission is for adults in $10, $8 for Seniors 65 and over and students, free for youth 18 and under and NMWA members. For information, call 202-783-5000 or visit the museum’s Web site at www.nmwa.org.

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