Women, Arts, and Social Change

“Thank you for telling the story of how women are fighting for equality, as we always have been, especially in art.”—visitor

Participants in the 2019 MakeHER Summit workshops pose after learning about branding, leadership, and communications for creative entrepreneurs

The Women, Arts, and Social Change (WASC) public programs initiative features Fresh Talk, curated conversations with innovators who champion women in the arts, and Cultural Capital, collaborative partnerships with leading D.C.-area organizations.

Fresh Talk Programs

New Views—Judy Chicago Sept. 22, 2019

Rooms of Her Own—Women, Art, and Ownership in the Hotel Industry (Part of the 2019 MakeHER Summit) Oct. 27, 2019

Art, Power, and the Vote—100 Years After Suffrage Nov. 17, 2019

Cultural Capital Programs

Step Afrika! | Aug. 30, 2019 Girlhood Interrupted Screening & Conversation with Georgetown University Law School’s Center on Poverty and Inequality | Sept. 8, 2019

The Big Quiet | Oct. 23, 2019

Journey to a Mother’s Room Screening & Conversation with SPAIN arts & culture | Oct. 6, 2019

19: The Musical with One Woman, One Vote Festival | Nov. 25–27, 2019

Hair Love Screening & Conversation with Headrush Productions | Feb. 23, 2020

Poetry Reading: Motherhood Redux with Folger Shakespeare Library | Mar. 11, 2020

Alexandra Bell speaks at Fresh Talk: Art, Power, and the Vote in November 2019

The multidisciplinary artist and journalist spoke at Fresh Talk: Art, Power, and the Vote about her series Counternarratives (2017–present), which addresses bias in journalism. “It’s important to think about power in media, who gets to talk to sources, and whose voices are prioritized,” Bell said during her presentation. By the Numbers

3,250 2019–20 WASC Featured Speaker: Alexandra Bell

season attendees

10,000+ Total attendees since 2015

Hair Love writer and director Matthew Cherry and illustrator of the related children’s book Vashti Harrison speak after the screening of the Academy Award-winning short film

Celebrating Ava DuVernay

On March 9, in collaboration with the Kennedy Center and the One Woman, One Vote Festival, NMWA sponsored a reception for a live concert screening of Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th, an in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation’s history of racial inequality. NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling delivered remarks.

Attendees enjoy the Kennedy Center reception

Shenson Chamber Music Concerts | Artistic Director, Gilan Tocco Corn

Anniversaries: A Recital and Narration with Jamie Bernstein and Spencer Myer | Oct. 2, 2019 Due to COVID-19, the spring Shenson concerts were postponed until 2021