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National Museum of Women in the Arts http://www.nmwa.org

The permanent collection comprised of more than 3,000 works provides a comprehensive survey of art by women from the 16th century to the present, with new acquisitions added regularly. The work in the collection represents a wide range of styles and media—from the Renaissance paintings of Elisabetta Sirani to modern photographs by Barbara Morgan to Louise Nevelson's contemporary sculptures. NMWA also has several important special collections, including silver by 18th and 19th-century Irish and English women silversmiths.

History

Wilhelmina Cole Holladay and Wallace F. Holladay began collecting art in the 1960s, just as scholars and art historians were beginning to discuss the underrepresentation of women and various racial and ethnic groups in museum collections and major art exhibitions. Among the first to apply this revisionist approach to collecting, the Holladays committed themselves for over 20 years to assembling art by women. By 1980, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay began to devote her energies and resources to creating a museum that would showcase women artists, and the Holladay Collection became the core of the institution's permanent collection.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts was incorporated in November 1981 as a private, non-profit museum. During its first five years, NMWA operated from temporary offices with docent-led tours of the collection at the Holladay residence. Special exhibitions also were presented. In 1983 the museum purchased a 78,810-square-foot Washington landmark near the White House, formerly a Masonic Temple, and refurbished it in accordance with the highest design, museum, and security standards. It won numerous architectural awards.

In the spring of 1987, NMWA opened the doors of its permanent location with the inaugural exhibition American Women Artists, 1830-1930. One of the country's foremost feminist art historians, Dr. Eleanor Tufts, was curator for the show, a definitive survey of the first century of work produced by America's women artists. To underscore the museum's commitment to increased attention for women in all disciplines, NMWA commissioned Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich to write Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra for an opening concert. Performed by two women pianists and the National Symphony Orchestra, the piece was inspired by five paintings from NMWA's permanent collection. The Washington Post called it "a 20th-century Pictures At An Exhibition."

Growth

In the 21 years since its opening, the National Museum of Women in the Arts has presented exhibitions aimed at the comprehensive study of women artists - past and present. Exhibitions have featured the work of Camille Claudel, Margaret Bourke-White, Carrie Mae Weems, Judith Leyster, Sofonisba Anguissola, Dame Elisabeth Frink, and many others. The museum has also acquired important works by Frida Kahlo, Käthe Kollwitz, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Lotte Laserstein, Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun, Dorothy Dehner, Joan Snyder, and others, along with special collections, such as silver by English and Irish silversmiths, miniatures by Eulabee Dix, and woodblock prints by Grace Albee.

The museum's holdings have grown to include works by more than 800 artists. Each year NMWA offers approximately 80 diverse education and outreach programs for children, adults, and teachers and produces educational materials that families and teachers can use. The Library and Research Center has extensive files on more than 18,000 women artists of all periods and nationalities and approximately 18,500 volumes of books and exhibition catalogues. Among many other initiatives, NMWA signed a formal affiliation agreement with Girl Scouts of the USA in 1994, and in 1997 it opened the Elisabeth A. Kasser Wing - adding two new galleries, a larger Museum Shop, and a reception room.

Noteworthy is NMWA's far-reaching support. Since 1984 more than 200,000 people have joined as members in support of the museum and its mission, and nearly 1.2 million people have visited to date. NMWA created a network of state committees in 1984 to enhance its effectiveness and responsiveness nationwide. The museum's goal is to have a committee in each state and to encourage their formation internationally; NMWA now has 28 state committees and three international affiliates.

Mission

The National Museum of Women in the Arts brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments.

To fulfill its mission, the museum cares for and displays a permanent collection, presents special exhibitions, conducts education programs, maintains a Library and Research Center, publishes a quarterly magazine and books on women artists, and supports a network of state and international committees. NMWA also serves as a center for the performing and literary arts and other creative disciplines.

Art Museums : United States : Washington D.C.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

July 17, 2008 11:49:40 AM

New York Avenue, 1250

Washington

DC

20005-3970

202-783-5000