#5WomenArtists over the Years
Over the past decade, NMWA has shared the names, stories, and works of thousands of artists, challenging inequities in the art world and urging people to reconsider who is represented, remembered, and valued. While #5WomenArtists is, at its heart, a social media campaign, its impact has always extended far beyond digital platforms. Discover more about our digital initiatives and its real-world impact.
#5WomenArtists Around the World
See museums, galleries, libraries, arts organizations, schools, and other institutions that have participated in #5WomenArtists!
To date, over 1,800 cultural organizations from 57 countries across all 7 continents have been a part of the global movement.
#5WomenArtists Timeline
Timeline Events
March 2016: Launch of the Campaign
#5WomenArtists mobilized nearly 400 museums, libraries, and galleries across 20 countries (and over 11,000 individuals) to raise global awareness of gender imbalance in art by asking the question, “Can you name five women artists?”
May 2017: Gold MUSE Award
The #5WomenArtists campaign received the 2017 American Alliance of Museums Gold MUSE Award in the Digital Communities category, honoring outstanding achievement in media and technology initiatives across galleries, libraries, archives, and museums.
March 2018: Women Artists of Color
The focus of the 2018 #5WomenArtists campaign celebrated women artists of color.
More than 625 national and international cultural institutions from six continents and 36 countries participated in the third year of #5WomenArtists.
March 2019: Tate x NMWA
NMWA partnered with Tate to amplify the global impact of #5WomenArtists, aligning two institutions committed to reshaping the visibility of women artists. In honor of Women’s History Month 2019, Tate assembled a playlist of women artists in their collection featured in the TateShots video series.
March 2020: Social Issues
More than 675 cultural institutions and 5,000 individuals highlighted women artists whose work addresses social issues such as gender equity, immigration, LGBTQIA+ rights, racial justice, and climate change.
2021: Yearlong Expansion
NMWA expanded #5WomenArtists from a celebration in March to a year-round, museum-wide initiative, encouraging art institutions around the world to focus on women artists beyond Women’s History Month.
2022: Emerging Artists
The 2022 year-round campaign focused on early- and underrepresented artists whose work has not been exhibited at museums. NMWA partnered with a network of local and national arts organizations across the country that selected featured artists from their communities.
2023: Art+ Digital Collaborations
In 2023, the campaign champions women working in arts-related fields, including architecture, design, music and film. In addition to social media takeovers, NMWA expanded its digital collaborations to National Gallery of Art’s Artle games and Google Arts & Culture’s virtual pocket galleries to engage audiences with women artists.
2024: Disability Activism and Advocacy in the Arts
In 2024, NMWA’s #5WomenArtists campaign focused on disability activism and advocacy to spotlight disabled artists, artists who engage in disability activism, individuals and groups working in accessibility advocacy, and organizations working to increase their accessibility.
2025: Intersectional Environmentalism
The 2025 #5WomenArtists initiative dove into intersectional environmentalism, focusing on gender equity and the arts alongside environmental justice and sustainability.
From the start of the campaign to date, the #5WomenArtists campaign has reached over 61 million users with over 1.1 million interactions and 7,600 mentions.
Broad Strokes Blog
10 Years of #5WomenArtists
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Header Image Credits
Top Row (L to R): Hung Liu: Image courtesy of National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA). Amy Sherald: © Amy Sherald; Image courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth; Photo credit JJ Geiger. Ambreen Butt: © Image courtesy of Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco; Photo by John Carrithers. Camille Claudel: Image courtesy of Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand, Mairie de Paris, Paris, France; Photo by César, 1884. Sonya Clark: Image courtesy of the artist. Bottom Row (L to R): Mary Cassatt: Image courtesy of Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick A. Sweet research material on Mary Cassatt and James A. McNeill Whistler, 1872-1975. Faith Ringgold: Image courtesy of NMWA; Photo by Yassine El Mansouri. Graciela Iturbide: Image courtesy of NMWA; Photo by Kevin Allen. Judy Chicago; Photo © Donald Woodman / Artists Rights Society, NY. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Photo by Grace Roselli, Pandora’s BoxX Project; Image courtesy of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York.