Women in the Arts Fall 2023

dear members and friends,

As I write, we are just weeks away from the museum’s grand reopening following its transformative renovation. Our staf is busily preparing for visitors—installing artworks, stocking the new studio with art-making supplies, connecting cables for our enhanced digital oferings, shelving books in the re-envisioned Library and Research Center, publishing catalogues, planning programs, and so much more.

We named NMWA’s capital campaign “Space to Soar” because it afrms our vision for an expansive future made possible by this major renovation. Our visitors will enjoy a new flm series, new artists’ books, a new installation of our collection, enhanced programming, and the exhibition The Sky’s the Limit—all of which help to fulfll that promise. The Sky’s the Limit features large-scale art in three dimensions by thirteen living artists. Their works rise from the ground, wrap around corners, and descend from the ceilings—a feat we often could not accomplish before. The exhibition demonstrates the possibilities of the museum’s new galleries as well as the beauty and profundity of contemporary art.

This exhibition honors NMWA’s late Founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay. Mrs. Holladay was a prescient collector of sculpture by women—including many works featured in The Sky’s the Limit and the museum’s collection galleries. She also helped to lay the groundwork for the museum’s transformative renovation and reopening through her vision, energy, and support. She and the entire Holladay family have created a legacy that is a constant source of inspiration.

My warmest and most efusive thanks to all of you— members, donors, and friends—who have furthered this legacy by supporting NMWA’s momentous building project. In our Space to Soar campaign, we have now reached 98.5% of our goal and we are ever so close to the fnish line. With your continued support as we move toward reopening, I am confdent we can achieve it. I can’t wait to welcome you back to see all that we have accomplished together.

with gratitude,

CHAMPION WOMEN THROUGH THE ARTS

MUSEUM INFORMATION

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SPACE TO SOAR

The museum’s building reopens October 21 after a top-to-bottom renovation. For more information, check https://nmwa.org

HOURS

Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Open until 8 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month; Closed on Mondays and select holidays

ADMISSION

NMWA Members free, Adults $16, D.C. residents $13, Visitors 70 and over $13, Visitors 21 and under free, Visitors with disabilities plus one free

Free Community Days are the frst Sundays and second Wednesdays of every month (starting in November).

WOMEN IN THE ARTS

Fall 2023

Volume 41, no. 3

Women in the Arts is a publication of the National Museum of Women in the Arts®

DIRECTOR

Susan Fisher Sterling

EDITOR

Elizabeth Lynch

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Alicia Gregory DESIGN

Studio A, Alexandria, VA

For advertising rates and information, call 202-266-2814 or email elynch@nmwa.org

Women in the Arts is published four times a year as a beneft for museum members by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005-3970.

Copyright © 2023 National Museum of Women in the Arts. National Museum of Women in the Arts®, The Women’s Museum®, #5WomenArtists™, and Women in the Arts® are registered trademarks of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

On the cover: Joana Vasconcelos, Rubra (detail), 2016; Murano glass, hand-crocheted wool, ornaments, LED lighting, polyester, and iron, 69 ¼ × 43 in. diameter; NMWA, Gift of Christine Suppes; © Atelier Joana Vasconcelos; Photo by Francesco Allegretto

Director's photo: © Michele Mattei

Susan Fisher Sterling

The Alice West Director

// FEATURES

↑ 8

The Sky’s the Limit

Immersive sculptural works by thirteen contemporary artists use large scale and alluring materials for maximum impact.

kathryn wat

18

Space to Soar

Enjoy a glimpse into the museum’s renovated galleries and join in recognizing the NMWA friends and donors who have enabled this ambitious renovation.

winton

holladay

↑ 28

Tech-tonic Changes

NMWA guests will fnd welcoming digital experiences—including the new video series “In Focus: Artists at Work”—that spark curiosity and engagement.

laura hoffman and virginia treanor

→ 24

Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Nine new works by book artists inaugurate the museum’s new Learning Commons and celebrate spaces where women’s creativity blooms.

lynora williams

// DEPARTMENTS

2 Arts News

4 Culture Watch

6 Education Report

7 Dedicated Donor: The Texas State Committee

14 Calendar

32 Museum Shop

33 Supporting Roles

“These works require monumental vision and unwavering commitment to physical processes.”

Arts News

Painting Pathways

In downtown Regina, the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, a new, permanent public mural was dedicated on June 21, Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day. Co-designed by Cree-Métis artist Geanna Dunbar and Inuvialuit-Gwich’in artist Brandy Jones, The Path to Reconciliation (2023) is a 300-foot-long and eight-footwide footpath mural rendered in the style of traditional First Nations beadwork. The artists invited community participation,

and approximately 200 volunteers helped stencil and paint the 2,600 circular “beads” that comprise the loom-styled work. Symbolism appears throughout the mural: circles represent healing, community gatherings, and mutual support in Indigenous life; additional motifs with cultural signifcance include fowers, bison bones, and the colors of the aurora borealis that represent ancestors offering guidance. Brenda Dubois, a Muscowpetung First Nation Elder and residential school survivor, and Audrey

Dreaver, an Indigenous cultural art advisor, provided guidance and historical knowledge for the project.

Winning Women

Zanzibar-born, British artist Lubaina Himid (b. 1954) won the 2023 Maria Lassnig Prize for midcareer artists. Himid launched her artistic career in the mid-1980s, creating works that addressed cultural history, slavery, and reclamation as well as gender and identity. The award includes a $55,000 cash prize and a solo exhibition at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing.

Indian video artist Nalini Malani (b. 1946) won the 2023 Kyoto Prize, an international award presented to individuals in different felds who have contributed to the betterment of humankind. In her work, Malani addresses themes of migration, feminism, and oppression. In 1985, she curated a groundbreaking exhibition of Indian female artists. The award comes with $706,000 cash prize.

Australian painter Julia Gutman (b. 1993) won the

2023 Archibald Prize for a painting that depicts her friend, the vocalist Montaigne. The $100,000 prize recognizes the best portrait of an individual “distinguished in art, letters, science or politics” painted by an Australian. Her portrait is the frst of a female singer to take the honor.

LA vs Hate

Two new murals in Los Angeles aim to celebrate diversity. Artist Cloe Hakakian’s The Common Thread (2023) was unveiled was unveiled in June in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, known as the city’s hub of Jewish culture and an area where two people were shot in separate incidents early this year. In the mural, a woman lights candles for Shabbat. Within the folds of her headscarf are Jewish cultural symbols and intergenerational female silhouettes. The artist explained that the candles’ fames illuminate the Hebrew script reading “L’dor V’dor,” meaning “from generation to generation.”

In Long Beach, where there have been many attacks on

Above and left: Geanna Dunbar and Brandy Jones, The Path to Reconciliation, 2023; Installation view in Regina, Saskatchewan

COURTESY OF CREATIVE CITY CENTRE

members of the LGBTQ+ community, Myisha Arellano’s mural Long Beach Embrace (2023) depicts two people in a tender hug. Vignettes of stories, celebrations, and movements in the LGBTQ+ community are painted on their bodies—the artist chose scenes that represent values of care and solidarity. Both murals are part of LA vs Hate: Summer of Solidarity, a public art initiative from the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations. Three additional murals will be unveiled in the coming months, honoring the city’s Indigenous, Latin American, and Black communities.

Welcoming The Doors

When London’s National Portrait Gallery reopened in June after a three-year closure for renovation, visitors were greeted by a new permanent installation, Tracey Emin’s The Doors (2023). Emin, a renowned British artist known for her work in a wide range of mediums, created a series of forty-fve hand-sketched portraits to be cast in bronze for each panel of the doors. The portraits, loosely based on Emin’s own image as well as from her imagination, are intended to evoke many different women, past and present.

The Doors complement an effort by the museum to increase representation of women on the gallery walls. This commissioned work was conceived as one response to the gender imbalance elsewhere in the museum—where many of the works on view depict men of historical significance in the United Kingdom— and on its façade, which is embellished with portrait busts of fourteen male painters.

Above, left to right: Cloe Hakakian, The Common Thread, 2023; Installation view in Los Angeles Myisha Arellano, Long Beach Embrace, 2023; Installation view in Los Angeles

Below, left to right: Tracey Emin, The Doors, 2023; Installation view at the National Portrait Gallery, London Emin in her studio

© OLIVIER HESS; COURTESY OF NPG LONDON

© HARRY WELLER; COURTESY OF NPG LONDON

COURTESY OF LA VS HATE

COURTESY OF LA VS HATE

Culture Watch

ALABAMA

Rania Matar: SHE

Huntsville Museum of Art

Through November 26, 2023

https://hsvmuseum.org

Fifty large-scale photographs from Matar’s portrait series “SHE” highlight young women in their twenties growing into adulthood in the U.S. and Middle East.

CALIFORNIA

Werewolf Hunters, Jungle Queens, and Space

Commandos: The Lost Worlds of Women Comic Artists

Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History

October 13, 2023–

January 21, 2024

https://santacruzmah.org

Pioneering female comic book artists are celebrated for drawing themselves into histories, politics, and futures from which the real world often excluded them.

GEORGIA

Sonya Clark: We Are Each Other

High Museum of Art, Atlanta

October 27, 2023–

February 18, 2024

https://high.org

Clark’s community-centered, participatory projects are presented together with her photographs, prints, and sculpture.

IOWA

Judy Onofrio: Deep Dive

Sioux City Art Center

Through February 11, 2024

https://siouxcityartcenter.org

Onofrio pushes the boundaries of art and craft with new sculptures inspired by underwater fora and fauna, made from bones, wood, beads, and other curios.

MARYLAND

Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400–1800 Baltimore Museum of Art

October 1, 2023–January 7, 2024

https://artbma.org

Objects from the ffteenth to eighteenth centuries, including portraits, costumes, and ceramics, refect the overlooked ways that women contributed to

the visual arts of Europe. This exhibition features nine works from NMWA’s collection.

NEW YORK

María Magdalena

Campos-Pons: Behold

Brooklyn Museum

Through January 14, 2024

https://brooklynmuseum.org

Campos-Pons’s photography, installation, painting, and performance works examine global histories of enslavement, indentured labor, motherhood, and migration.

TEXAS

The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury

Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth

Through January 7, 2024

https://cartermuseum.org

More than ffty defning works by Nevelson, including sculpture, installation, wall works, and prints, are on view together for the frst time.

WISCONSIN

Rose B. Simpson: Counterculture

John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan

Through February 25, 2024

https://jmkac.org

Simpson’s seven large-scale fgures were frst installed on the lands of the StockbridgeMunsee Community Band of Mohican Indians (in present-day Williamstown, Massachusetts); the move to Wisconsin traces the path of forced removal of the community.

NEW YORK // María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Floating Between Temperature Zones, from the series “Un Pedazo de Mar,” 2019; Gouache, watercolor, graphite, and ink on paper, 25 7 × 33 in.; On view at the Brooklyn Museum

PRIVATE COLLECTION OF LEAH BENNETT; © MARÍA MAGDALENA CAMPOS-PONS, PHOTO COURTESY OF GALLERY WENDI NORRIS

ALABAMA // Rania Matar, Sylvie, Beirut, Lebanon, 2018; Archival pigment print, 28 ¾ × 36 in.; On view at the Huntsville Museum of Art

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND HUNTSVILLE MUSEUM OF ART

International CANADA

Marisol: A Retrospective Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

October 7, 2023–January 21, 2024

https://mbam.qc.ca

Marisol’s sculptures and self-portraits of the 1960s are presented alongside lesserknown works, including drawings and collaborative dance, as well as source materials and personal photographs.

Family Lore

he magical Marte sisters— Matilde, Flor, Pastora, and Camila—are the beating heart of Elizabeth Acevedo’s adult ction debut Family Lore Harper Collins, 2023). The story begins when Flor, who can predict people’s deaths, decides to throw herself a living wake. Through the voices of the novel’s women characters, including Flor’s daughter Ona, the story traces the event’s preparation. Acevedo, a celebrated poet, uses her prowess with language and form to expand the tale across time and place. Family Lore dances between past and present, the Dominican Republic and New ork City, perspectives and memories and generations. It embodies the complicated hum of a large family—the secrets, the unsaid, the misunderstood, and, of course, the love. cevedo, best known for her young adult novels, has always written about mothers and daughters, and Family Lore is a love letter to them—and to life itself. Flor, speaking to Ona, says, “You grounded me here, with both feet, on both knees, stooped on all fours, heaving to bring you forth. I have known death since before I was born, but I had not truly known life until I gave it to you.”

//

Alicia Gregory

Project 562

In Matika Wilbur’s decade-inthe-making Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America (Ten Speed Press, 2023), readers meet lawyers, artists, activists, athletes, and teachers. “Stereotypes overlook the diversity and the humanity of who Native people are, and that shit’s dangerous,” says Migizi Pensoneau, a Ponca and Ojibwe screenwriter/comedian and one of hundreds of subjects who participated in the book. In contrast to stereotypes, Wilbur’s intimate interviews share individuals’ lives, whether they describe creating traditional regalia for grandchildren’s ceremonies, reckoning with intergenerational trauma, learning ancestral fshing practices, or organizing protests. Wilbur, of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes, honors each subject through her photography. The title represents the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations, although Wilbur acknowledges the many other Tribes that lack federal recognition. Certain themes recur: “Native women deserve safety,” Wilbur writes, introducing a section on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people. Another common thread: “We are the land, the land is us, and we are still here,” says Paula Peters, a Wampanoag journalist. In the end, Wilbur writes hopefully, “The future is Indigenous.”

Elizabeth Lynch

CANADA // John D. Schiff, Marisol with Dinner Date (1963); On view at the Montreal Museum of Art

MARISOL PAPERS, BUFFALO AKG ART MUSEUM; © JOHN D. SCHIFF, COURTESY OF THE LEO BAECK INSTITUTE, NEW YORK

WISCONSIN // Rose B. Simpson, Counterculture, 2022 (installation view at the John Michael Kohler Art Preserve, 2023); Dyed concrete, steel, clay, and cable, 128 × 24 × 11 in. each; On view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, JESSICA SILVERMAN, SAN FRANCISCO, AND JACK SHAINMAN

GALLERY, NEW YORK; PHOTO COURTESY OF THE JOHN MICHAEL KOHLER ARTS CENTER

Education Report

As the education team anticipates the museum’s reopening, we look forward to fnding a new programmatic balance. We are planning an exciting menu of brand new and reimagined on-site programs, and we will continue select online programs that our virtual community has come to appreciate over the last four years.

Online Programs

Summer has been an exciting and busy time. NMWA educators Addie Gayoso, Ashley Harris, Deborah Gaston, and Micah Koppl taught virtual Art Chat sessions every other Friday, discussing topics ranging from the documentarian work of photojournalists to concepts of imagined dreamscapes.

In August, we held the penultimate episode of NMWA xChange, our talk show featuring women creatives. Senior Educator Gayoso and Senior Curator Virginia Treanor welcomed former colleague Lynora Williams to discuss the upcoming exhibition Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, which she curated. Contributing artists Adjoa Jackson Burrowes and Colette Fu joined the conversation.

In July, we presented NMWA’s fourth annual Virtual Educator Summer Camp for 264 participants from twentytwo states, Washington, D.C., and seven countries outside of the United States. This year’s camp theme was “Making the Ordinary Extraordinary.” We celebrated works in NMWA’s collection and offered accessible art projects that reuse, repurpose, and reimagine everyday objects. Guest instructors included artists Alisa Banks, María Verónica San Martín, Susan Joy Share, Esther K. Smith, Karen Vaughan, and Imin Yeh. Smith demonstrated

how to make a book out of a discarded food box. Vaughan explained the art and science behind turning soil into watercolor pigments.

Looking Ahead (Vir tually)

We look forward to continuing our Art Chat series once the

museum reopens. On Friday, November 3, we will offer a hybrid program, Art Chat Live!, in which participants can join online or in person, in NMWA’s refreshed galleries.

NMWA xChange will be on hiatus following our September 12 episode featuring creative contributors to the museum’s video series “In Focus: Artists at Work.” Find past episodes on the museum’s YouTube channel. We invite all educators to mark their calendars for the ffth anniversary of our Virtual Educator Summer Camp, which will be offered in July 2024.

In-Person Programs

In June, Gayoso and Associate Educator Ashley Harris traveled

to Cary, North Carolina, where they developed customized professional development for the town’s Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources art educators.

Once the museum reopens, we look forward to offering a range of in-person tours and programs for audiences of all ages. Interested in exploring the galleries? Consider booking a private tour, or join us for Gallery Talks or Collection Highlights drop-in tours. Want to dive deeper and get creative? Attend a free-form Open Studio session or a structured Firsthand Experience workshop in our new studio space! We can’t wait to welcome you back to NMWA!

book

Esther K. Smith shows Virtual Educator Summer Camp participants how to turn a cheese cracker box into an artist’s

“Thank you for providing my instructors with information and context for twenty (!) women artists that they can now use as examples and inspiration for more than 500 camps and classes each year. Bravo! We greatly appreciate your hard work, effort, and expertise.”

Town of Cary Visual Arts Education Specialist

PHOTO BY ADRIENNE L. GAYOSO, NMWA

Associate Educator Ashley Harris facilitates a discussion with art educators in Cary, North Carolina

Dedicated Donor

NMWA’S TEXAS STATE COMMITTEE has a distinctive history, and its members are working together now to help carry the museum into the future.

The committee’s story— intertwined with the museum’s founding—begins in 1983, when the late Elizabeth Stafford Hutchinson read about Wilhelmina Cole Holladay’s efforts to establish a museum of art by women. Hutchinson, a prominent Texan, had met Holladay in the 1950s, and she was intrigued. She called with congratulations and an offer to introduce Holladay to friends in Texas who might be interested in supporting the museum. Before long, Holladay and Hutchinson rekindled what would become a lifelong friendship, and the Texas State Committee was founded: one of the frst of the museum’s network of now thirty-one national and international outreach committees.

Today, a new generation in Texas and Washington, D.C., continues on the path begun by Hutchinson and Holladay. One unique aspect of the Texas committee is its structure: the group is a fxed size, and leaders invite members from different parts of the state, who gather at twice-yearly

meetings. Dot Snyder, a recent committee president as well ell as a member of the NMWA Advisory Board (NAB), describes, “For our group, it’s a perfect model. It’s structured, but it grew organically. It means a lot to us to continue the committee with people who are interested in the arts and in the museum.” Brooke Taylor, a fellow NAB member and past committee president, says, “We’ve assembled a wonderful group. Members realize what the museum has done in bringing women artists to the forefront.” Their meetings include visits to museums, tours of private art collections, and dining together—memorable gatherings that have produced lasting friendships and a deeply held devotion to NMWA.

Members are also looking forward to the NMWA exhibition New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024, taking place next spring. For the Women to Watch exhibition series, each NMWA outreach group works with regional curators to select contemporary artists working in the exhibition’s theme or medium, and NMWA curators select the artists whose work will be on view in Washington. For New Worlds, committee member and NAB member Judy Spence Tate has led the

Texas group’s efforts, partnering with the Blanton Museum of Ar t at the University of Texas at Austin. Former Blanton curator Veronica Roberts, now director of the Cantor Museum at Stanford University, selected nominees, and when the committee held its spring 2023 meeting, the Blanton hosted a public program featuring the nominated artists. “The Blanton was very supportive,” says Tate, “and it was a great collaboration. Everyone enjoyed hearing about the artists’ work.”

The committee members are dedicated supporters of the museum in Washington, D.C. As Stephanie Sale, a former committee president as well as a member of NMWA’s Board of Trustees and NAB, describes, “We watch from afar with great enthusiasm.” When they heard about the museum’s renovation, they were determined to support the project in a special way. Sale helped current president Jean Alexander in rallying members to support the museum’s renovation. By supporting the renovation, Sale says, “we felt that the committee could once again step forward and help the museum.”

Inspired by the vision for NMWA’s future, the group donated more than $1.5 million to the “Space to Soar” capital campaign. In recognition of their dedication and generosity, the entry rotunda will now be named The Texas Committee Rotunda—a renewed and revitalized gathering place at the heart of the museum.

“Mrs. Holladay and Mrs. Hutchinson would be so gratifed that the Texas Committee continues to uphold their legacy. The group’s belief in NMWA’s mission has been constant and their leadership is strong. Their engagement with the museum for more than thirty years is nothing short of remarkable. We are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the museum in this wonderful space that now bears their name.”

NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling

PHOTO BY BROOKE TAYLOR

The Texas Committee at a 2021 meeting, visiting the home of collector Rozanne Rosenthal

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

October 21, 2023–February 25, 2024

Contemporary, immersive sculptures in The Sky’s the Limit highlight the museum’s revitalized galleries and the critical place of women artists in the development of process-focused sculpture. Artworks dangle from the ceiling, spring outward from the walls, and extend far beyond their footprints on the gallery foor.

Kathryn Wat

Beatriz Milhazes, Marola, 2015; Acrylic, hand-painted enamel on aluminum, stainless steel, and polyester fowers, 100 × 72 × 56 in.; NMWA, Gift of Tony Podesta Collection

Meeting This Moment

Women artists pioneered post-minimalist sculpture through the 1960s and 1970s. Curators and critics routinely ignored or minimized their innovations, which included expansive scale, intensive handwork, and the connection of sculpture to surrounding spaces. Expanding the legacy of their artistic foremothers, contemporary artists continue to stack, link, and hang elements, work at a large scale, and embrace unconventional materials to achieve maximum impact.

Presented in NMWA’s redesigned 6,500-square-foot special exhibition galleries, this project subtly demonstrates new possibilities ofered by the renovated space—from reinforced interior supports that greatly expand the potential size and weight of installations to movable walls that are infnitely adaptable to each exhibition.

The Sky’s the Limit comprises recent accessions to NMWA’s collection, including works by Sonya Clark, Beatriz Milhazes, Cornelia Parker, Mariah Robertson, Davina Semo, Shinique Smith, and Joana Vasconcelos. Rina Banerjee, Petah Coyne, Alison Saar, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Johanna Unzueta, and Yuriko Yamaguchi are represented by works delivered directly from their studios and loans from private collections.

Big as the Sky

The artists in this exhibition demonstrate a belief that the body of a sculpture is intrinsically related to that of a viewer. They create at a large scale to heighten physical and emotional efect. Cedar wood sculptures by Ursula von Rydingsvard (b. 1942) sweep out from the walls and push deep into gallery space or fare out high above viewers’ heads. Flow (2022), a tenfoot-long matrix of looped wire and resin by Yuriko Yamaguchi (b. 1948), resembles murmuring or swarming organisms.

A 164-foot-long abstract photograph by Mariah Robertson (b. 1975) also speaks to the psychic force of extreme scale. Robertson works in cameraless photography, creating images in the darkroom by placing negatives, hand-cut masks or stencils, and color flters over light-sensitive paper. Her photograph 9 (2011) is delicate but also far too large to be framed. The ribbon-shaped work dominates the gallery, sweeping around corners, looping through bars that hang from the ceiling, and directing guests’ path through the space.

Robertson created 9 in a completely dark room, wrestling with her outsized roll of paper in a process that required hours of exhaustive labor. Artists often transmit their hands-on processes and gestures through acts of repetition

MARIAH ROBERTSON; IMAGE COURTESY OF M+B AND THE ARTIST

© DAVINA SEMO; COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND JESSICA SILVERMAN, SAN FRANCISCO; PHOTO BY JOHN WILSON WHITE

Mariah Robertson, 9 2011; Unique photographic print on metallic paper, 1,968 × 50 in.; NMWA, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection

Davina Semo, Hummingbird 2020; Cast bronze bell, UV-protected two-stage catalyzed urethane automotive fnish, whipped nylon line, patinated solid bronze clapper, leather cord, powder-coated chain, and hardware, 20 × 9 ½ in. diameter; NMWA, Museum purchase: Funds provided by San Francisco Advocacy for NMWA and Fred Levin in honor of Nancy Livingston

or accumulation. Curls (2005) by Sonya Clark (b. 1967) comprises dozens of spirals made from linked pocket combs. Each suspended twist resembles an individual curly strand or a bouncy tendril of hair. We can easily imagine the artist gathering, sorting, stacking, preparing, attaching, and unfurling the cache of combs she collected.

The spare clarity of Clark’s sculpture fnds a counterpoint in sensuous assemblages by Rina Banerjee (b. 1963). The horns, parasols, doll’s head, and carved wood rhinoceros in Banerjee’s Make me a summary of the world! (2014) refect her personal experience of migration and her understanding that the exploration of our world is deeply political. The

Joana Vasconcelos, Rubra, 2016; Murano glass, hand-crocheted wool, ornaments, LED lighting, polyester, and iron, 69 ¼ × 43 in. diameter; NMWA, Gift of Christine Suppes

Below left: Alison Saar, Undone, 2012; Cast fberglass, polyester dress, cast aluminum branches, cotton rags, found chair, and bottles, 180 × 60 in. diameter; On loan from Tia Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico

artist’s Lady of Commerce (2012) comprises a wooden dress form topped by wire arms laden with pearls, chandelier drops, and dozens of glass vials and bottles, some inscribed in gold with the words “Africa,” “Portugal,” and “England.” A Victorianstyle glass chandelier hangs above the fgure. Collectively, the imagery invokes the aggressive, consuming nature of colonization and trade.

Finding Their Way

Unconventional materials, including found objects such as Clark’s combs and Banerjee’s crystal drops, were critical to the work of progressive women and nonbinary sculptors in the postwar period. Globally, the majority of artists working in the 1960s and 1970s lacked the funding, functional studio space, and tools needed to work with costly materials. Many embraced more accessible mediums such as textiles and found objects. Artists continue to plumb the expressive possibilities of these materials.

Alison Saar (b. 1956) tied weathered glass bottles to a root that extends downward from the female fgure in her wallmounted sculpture Undone (2012). Gazing out at a point high above our heads, the seated woman grasps her long, transparent gown that covers the root and bottles and pools on the foor. Each corked container signifes the postponement or subversion of the woman’s ideas. Saar’s imagery vivifes the challenges of the creative process—choosing what to do, what to sublimate, and what to abandon.

Most of the artworks in The Sky’s the Limit attach to the ceiling, including Thirty Pieces of Silver (exhaled) Sugar Bowl (2003) by Cornelia Parker (b. 1956). Her sculpture is composed of silver-plated fatware, relish trays, tankards, salt shakers, and other vessels that have been fattened by an industrial press and then suspended from the ceiling by fne wires. The artist frequently changes the character of an object through the use of extreme force—smashing, exploding, or

© ATELIER JOANA VASCONCELOS; PHOTO BY FRANCESCO ALLEGRETTO

extruding—but also through more delicate gestures such as wrapping, stitching, and wiping.

While Parker’s silver pieces appear to foat serenely, Daisies up your butterfy (2013) by Shinique Smith (b. 1971) brims with the energy of both secrecy and discovery. The artist’s hanging bundles are made from reclaimed clothing (often Smith’s own) tightly bound by ribbon. For her, clothing is akin to a language or vocabulary. It is acquired, adapted, shared, altered, and eventually discarded along with our evolving sense of self and community.

Shinique Smith, Daisies up your butterfy, 2013; Clothing, fabric, ribbon, rope, and fashion accessories, 38 × 22 × 27 in.; NMWA, Gift of Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell and the Ohio Advisory Group

Below, left: Rina Banerjee, Lady of Commerce—wooden. Hers is a transparent beauty, her eager sounds, her infnite and clamorous land and river, ocean and island, earth and sky . . . all contained, bottled for delivery to an open hole, a commerce so deep while large her arms fool stretched too wide and her sulfurous halo—a ring of glass, metal, stone retire to a sun of fre., 2012; Hand-painted, leaded glass chandelier, wood fgurine, vintage glass bottles, chandelier ornaments, birdcage, steel, wood pedestal, lace, cowry shells, taxidermy deer paws, Indian marriage jewelry, ostrich eggshells, porcelain doll hands, silver leaf, gold leaf, wire, linen cord, and marble baby doll hands, 120 × 48 in. diameter; Courtesy of the artist

Opposite: Sonya Clark, Curls, 2005; Plastic combs, 96 × 36 × 36 in.; NMWA, Museum purchase: Members’ Acquisition Fund and Belinda de Gaudemar Acquisition Fund

Material Culture

Instead of found objects, other artists featured in The Sky’s the Limit build their works from fundamental materials such as wool, paper, wire, resin, cedar wood, aluminum, wax, and blown glass. These mediums also bear strong associations to the natural world, industry, and the built environment.

Glass globes sheathed in black pigment hang from a dense snarl of black wire in Untitled #1458 (Marguerite Duras) (2019–20) by Petah Coyne (b. 1953). Its organic shapes allude to the unseen but commanding forces that stir worlds—both physical and spiritual. Joana Vasconcelos (b. 1971) also incorporated glass into Rubra (2016), an illuminated chandelier made from crocheted wool and Murano glass. Both functional and boisterous, the light fxture acclaims the centuries-old legacy of handcrafts among women makers as well as the limitless artistic potential of these techniques.

RINA BANERJEE; IMAGE COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND PERROTIN; PHOTO BY GUILLAUME ZICCARELLI

© SHINIQUE SMITH; PHOTO BY JASON MANDELLA

Textile-based sculptures by Johanna Unzueta (b. 1974) often appear to route through gallery walls and hug corners, stand-ins for her own body and handwork. Just as she might bend, fex, roll, and move forward, so, too, do her sculptures, which have a powerful anthropomorphic presence. Her hefty felt-and-wood roller chain Another kind of center piece (2019) presses against the gallery wall and then loops out onto the foor, its shape evoking the bends and folds of a human body.

The movements of visitors’ bodies in the galleries of The Sky’s the Limit activate Marola (2015), an efervescent network of hanging beads, silk fowers, and metal rods created by Beatriz Milhazes (b. 1960). The sculpture’s undulating shape encourages us to move around its curvy ffteen-foot perimeter, as the work’s lightweight strands shimmy from air fow changes. In the Portuguese language, marola refers to small waves or ripples.

Seven cast metal bells by Davina Semo (b. 1981) evince the artist’s powerful disquiet about the nature and future of our world. Bells themselves are disappearing from the public landscape, and so, too, is their ringing to mark the time of day, celebrate a happy occasion, or issue a call to action. Formed from industrial materials that render sonorous, soul-stirring sound, Semo’s bells ofer a rare encounter with a simple object that literally resonates within the body and mind.

Infnite Space

From its inception in 1987, NMWA committed to collecting and exhibiting visionary sculpture. Robust, large-scale sculptures delight—but still surprise—many visitors to the museum. These works require monumental vision and unwavering commitment to physical processes that belie gendered expectations and inspire awe. As the museum reopens its doors and shares a revitalized space, The Sky’s the Limit confrms NMWA’s enduring commitment to proclaiming artists’ infnite impact and infuence.

// Kathryn Wat is deputy director/chief curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

The Sky’s The Limit is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibition is underwritten by Presenting Sponsor Denise Littlefeld Sobel.

Curatorial research funds were provided by Marcia Myers Carlucci. Additional support for the exhibition catalogue comes from The Deborah Buck Foundation.

// COVER TO COVER

the sky’s the limit catalogue

Published by NMWA to commemorate the inaugural exhibition presented in the museum’s new gallery spaces, this book includes images of the sculptures on view as well as additional related works by each participating artist.

Giving primacy to artists’ voices, short essays and verse commissioned from participating artists illuminate the inspiration and intent that shape their work.

Two extended essays by the exhibition’s curators, Kathryn Wat and Hannah Shambroom, provide broader context for the art on view.

Buy the book: visit the Museum Shop section on page 32 or https://shop.nmwa.org for order information

SONYA CLARK; PHOTO BY TAYLOR DABNEY

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

// EXHIBITIONS // KEY

The Sky’s The Limit

October 21, 2023–

February 25, 2024

In Focus: Artists at Work

October 21, 2023–

September 22, 2024

Hung Liu: Making History

October 21, 2023–

October 20, 2024

Impressive: Antoinette Bouzonnet Stella

October 21, 2023–

October 20, 2024

Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts

October 21, 2023–

October 20, 2024

Online exhibitions: Revisit favorite NMWA exhibitions and more at https://nmwa.org/whats-on/ exhibitions/online.

F Free

M Free for members

Free for members and one guest

A Free with admission

R Reservations required at https://nmwa.org

O No reservations required

E Exhibition-related program

V Virtual/online program (Please note that the time zone for all online programs is Eastern Time)

Automated speech-to-text transcription is enabled during most virtual programs. To request additional access services, please check the online calendar for contact information or email accessibility@nmwa.org. Two weeks’ notice is appreciated but not required.

Daily / Weekly / Monthly

For museum admission, advance reservations are strongly suggested. Reserve online at https://nmwa.org Limited walk-up availability.

Free Community Day

FIRST SUNDAYS & SECOND WEDNESDAYS 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R The frst Sunday and second Wednesday of each month, NMWA offers free admission to the public. Enjoy current exhibitions and the collection galleries. Please note: advance registration is required, and there is limited walk-up availability.

Open Studio

FIRST SUNDAYS & SECOND WEDNESDAYS 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M A O E On the first Sunday and second Wednesday of each month during Free Community Days, visit the museum’s new studio/classroom for self-directed, drop-in art-making activities inspired by artworks on view. All ages welcome; children twelve and younger require adult supervision.

Collection Highlights Tour

FRIDAYS & SELECT SUNDAYS 2–2:45 P.M. // M A O During these interactive, docent- or staff-led talks, look closely and discuss artworks from the museum’s collection. Join as often as you like—tour content varies.

Hung Liu, Summer with Cynical Fish, 2014; Oil on canvas, 60 × 72 in.; NMWA, Gift of the artist and Turner Carroll Gallery in honor of Nancy Livingston; On view in Hung Liu: Making History

Visit

Gallery Talk

MOST WEDNESDAYS 12–12:45 P.M. // F M O E

Led by museum staff members, these conversational, thematic talks highlight three to six works on view. Join often as you like—tour content varies.

Art Chat @ Five

SELECT FRIDAYS 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R E V

Jump-start your weekend with art! Join NMWA educators for informal 45-minute art chats about selected artworks from NMWA’s collection.

September

9 / 15 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V 9 / 29 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

October

10 / 6 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

10 / 20 Exclusive Reopening Preview Celebration

FRI 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M R E

NMWA members are invited to join us for a special frst look at the newly renovated building and reopening exhibitions!

10 / 21 NMWA Now: Museum Reopening

SAT 11 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R E

Celebrate the museum’s grand public reopening with a day of entertainment, art activities, and spotlight tours of our special exhibitions and the newly renovated space! Reserve tickets online.

10 / 22 Free Reopening Community Day

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

10 / 22 Open Studio

SUN 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M A O

10 / 25 Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

November

11 / 1 Gallery Talk: Hung Liu: Making History

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

11 / 3 Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2–2:45 P.M. // M A O

Celebrate the museum’s reopening by visiting on free community days, held the frst Sunday and second Wednesday of each month

11 / 3 Art Chat @ 5 Live!

FRI 5–6:30 P.M. // F M R V

Celebrate the museum’s reopening with the frst-ever hybrid Art Chat. Local participants can join us in person for a conversation in the galleries and those at a distance can join via Zoom.

11 / 5 Free Community Day

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

11 / 5 Open Studio

SUN 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M A O

11 / 5 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 2–2:45 P.M. // M A O

11 / 8 Free Community Day

WED 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

11 / 8 Open Studio

WED 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M A O

11 / 8 Gallery Talk: Impressive: Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

11 / 10 “Welcome Back” Educator Open House

FRI 10 A.M.–7 P.M. // F M R

Celebrate teaching and learning at NMWA! Join museum educators and fellow teachers for interactive gallery explorations, hands-on activities in the new studioclassroom, and an introduction to the new Learning Commons. Learn more about NMWA’s school partnership possibilities and newest classroom resources.

PHOTO BY KEVIN ALLEN

F Free

M Free for members

Free for members and one guest

A Free with admission

R Reservations required at https://nmwa.org

O No reservations required

E Exhibition-related program

V Virtual/online program (Please note that the time zone for all online programs is Eastern Time)

11 / 10 Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2 P.M.–2:45 P.M. // M A O

11 / 12 Creative’s Keynote: Katy Hessel

SUN 4–8 P.M. // R

In this talk, Katy Hessel, British art historian and author of The Story of Art Without Men (2023), will detail her experience as a curator and creative leader who centers overlooked artists from all over the world on a variety of platforms. Followed by Sunday Supper. Reservations required. $40 general/$37 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$35 members.

11 / 15 New Worlds: Placemakers

WED 12–1 P.M. // F M R E V

Join NMWA curators and artists featured in the upcoming exhibition New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024 for an online discussion about the show’s themes of migration, displacement, and world building.

11 / 15

Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

11 / 17

Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2–2:45 P.M. // M A O

11 / 17 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

11 / 22

Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

11 / 29 Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Tak, 2015; Cedar, 62 × 50 × 26 in.; NMWA, Gift of Wilhelmina Cole Holladay; On view in The Sky’s the Limit

Visit

December

12 / 1 Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2–2:45 P.M. // M A O

12 / 1 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

12 / 3 Free Community Day

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

12 / 3 Open Studio

SUN 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M A O

12 / 3 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 2 P.M.–2:45 P.M. // M A O

12 / 3 Fresh Talk: Digital Futures in Art and Design

SUN 4–6 P.M. // R

Join us for a conversation about how technology infuences the creation and sale of art and how it can advance equity for women creatives. Featuring digital artists Krista Kim, Nyla Hayes, and designer Damara Inglês; moderated by curator and AI researcher Luba Elliott. Followed by Catalyst cocktail hour. $20 general/ $17 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$15 members.

12 / 6 Gallery Talk: The Sky’s the Limit

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

12 / 8 Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2 P.M.–2:45 P.M. // M A O

12 / 9 Firsthand Experience Workshop

SAT 10 A.M.–3 P.M. // R

In this workshop, learners ages thirteen and older are guided by an artist in a hands-on program that combines making, gallery conversation, and discovery. In the first workshop since reopening, participants will see, make, and play in the museum’s new spaces! Reservations required. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members.

12 / 13 Free Community Day

WED 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

12 / 13 Open Studio

WED 11 A.M.–4 P.M. // M A O

12 / 13 Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

12 / 13 New Worlds: Gender Disruptions

WED

Artists featured in the upcoming exhibition New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024 share their worldviews beyond conventional constructions of gender and discuss how their work subverts the patriarchal status quo.

12 / 15 Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2 P.M.–2:45 P.M. // M A O

12 / 15 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

12 / 20 Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

12 / 27 Gallery Talk: Collection Sampler

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O

12 / 29 Collection Highlights Tour

FRI 2 P.M.–2:45 P.M. // M A O

// Education programming is made possible by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, with further support provided by the Leo Rosner Foundation and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Harriet E. McNamee Youth Education Fund and William and Christine Leahy.

The Women, Arts, and Social Change public programs initiative is made possible through leadership gifts from Denise Littlefeld Sobel and the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, with additional support provided by Anne N. Edwards, the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family, and the Susan and Jim Swartz Public Programs Fund.

Twice a month, join NMWA educators in the new studio/classroom for free, selfdirected, drop-in art-making activities inspired by artworks on view

Space to Soar

Saluting NMWA’s Supporters

Winton S. Holladay

The moment has nearly arrived! We are in the fnal stages of NMWA’s top-to-bottom renovation, and it is gratifing to see the building coming to life. In just a few weeks, we will be able to welcome you back through the doors, into a gleaming museum that has been thoroughly re-envisioned and refreshed for a generation to come. I am thrilled to share here the earliest “sneak peek” at our collection galleries, where soon you will be able to visit, revisit, and discover the work of world-class women artists.

This ambitious project was only possible due to the generosity and partnership of museum donors who joined in our “Space to Soar” goal. These extraordinary friends of NMWA have helped us in reaching 98.5% of the campaign’s aim as

we prepare to reopen—and with the amazing support we have had, I’ll bet we can exceed that goal in the fnal stretch!

During the course of the renovation, we also marked the loss of NMWA Founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, who passed away at age ninety-eight in March 2021. She left a profound legacy at the museum, which we are proud to continue. Together, we honor her memory by celebrating her vision and continuing to champion the art, mission, and place that were so important to her.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the museum’s leadership, I once again extend sincerest gratitude to the supporters of our Space to Soar capital campaign. As we prepare for the events and festivities of the reopening, we invite all members and friends of the museum to visit, enjoy the art and new spaces, and share in shaping the museum’s future.

// Winton S. Holladay is the chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Space to Soar Capital Campaign

$15 million+

Wilhelmina C. and Wallace F. Holladay, Sr.*

$5–$14.9 million

Gloria and Dan Logan/ Revada Foundation

Jacqueline Badger Mars

$2–$4.9 million

Marcia Myers Carlucci

Bett y Boyd Dettre*

Events DC

Ann M. Farley Trust

Denise Littlefield Sobel

MaryRoss Taylor

$1–$1.9 million

Winton and Hap Holladay

Clara M. Lovett

Marlene A. Malek

Estate of Evelyn B. Metzger

Sue J. Henry and Carter G. Phillips

J. Christopher and Anne N. Reyes Foundation

San Francisco Advocacy Group

Dr. Alejandra Segura

Susan and Jim Swartz

The Texas Committee

Estate of Susan Wisherd

$500,000–$999,999

David Boies and Jonathan Schiller

Mary Lou Dauray

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities

Martha Lyn Dippell and Daniel L. Korengold

Cindy and Evan Jones

Fred M. Levin in memory of Nancy Livingston Levin

The Honorable Mary V. Mochary

Sarah and Ross Perot Jr.

Lucy S. Rhame

George and Patti White

$250,000–$499,999

Nancy and Marc Duber

Elva Ferrari-Graham

Jamie Gorelick and Richard Waldhorn

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Gloria Pieretti* in honor of the Testolin Pieretti Family

Linda Rabbitt and John Whalen Family Foundation

Sheila and Rick Shaffer

Geri O’Toole Skirkanich

Christine Suppes

Alice and Gordon* West Jr.

$101,000–$249,999

M. A. Ruda and Peter J. P. Brickfield*

Charlotte Forster

Georgia Committee of NMWA

Anjali and Arun Gupta

Nancy Wood Moorman

Amanda and Curtis Polk

Laurel and John Rafter

Tara Rudman

Jayne Visser and Kristin Smith

Dana* and Jack Snyder

Susan and Scott Sterling

$100,000

Janice and Harold L.* Adams

Arkansas State Committee

Amy and Brett Baier

Grace Bender

Charlotte Clay Buxton and Michael Buxton

The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation

Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas

Andrea and Richard Catania

Evonne C. and Robert T. Connolly, II

Ashley Davis and Joel Frushone

Lisa and Porter Dawson

Anne N. Edwards

Charles and Lisa Claudy Fleischman Family Fund

Helen Frankenthaler Foundation

Belinda de Gaudemar

Pamela Gwaltney

Laurie Sands Harrison

The Hayes Foundation

Diane Casey-Landry and Brock Landry

Mary Ann and Allen Lassiter

Kristen and George Lund

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter

Morgan Stanley

Northern Trust Company

Ohio Advisory Group

Kay Woodward Olson

Tony T. and Trisja Malisoff Podesta

Lucretia Adymy Risoleo and Robert Risoleo

Stephanie Wyndam Sale

Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation

Karen and William Sonneborn

Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn

Christoph and Pamela Stanger

Roger and Nancy Nelson Stevenson

Josephine L. and Thomas D.* Stribling

Leo Rosner Foundation/ Bill Robbins

Judy Spence Tate

Deborah Dunklin Tipton

$50,000–$99,999

Bank of America of Greater Washington

Deborah G. Carstens

Robin and Jay Hammer

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Reed Miller

Julie Packard

Jean Hall and Thomas D. Rutherfoord, Jr.

Beth W. Newburger Schwartz

Patti Amanda and Bruce Spivey

UK Friends of NMWA

Marichu C. Valencia and Donald J. Puglisi

Amy Weiss and Peter J. Kadzik

NMWA is preparing to welcome visitors back to completely reimagined and expanded galleries.

We are beyond grateful for the generosity, confidence, and enthusiasm of NMWA’s friends. With your partnership, we are launching the museum’s next chapter.

$25,000–$49,999

Gail D. Bassin

Joan Bialek and Louis Levitt

Deborah Buck

Marcy and Neil Cohen

Robyn D. Collins

Susan Goldberg and Geoffrey Etnire

Jan Jessup

Alice D. Kaplan

Mr. and Mrs. Jim C. Langdon

Marcia MacArthur

Priscilla W. and Joe R. Martin

Robin Rosa Laub

Bonnie Loeb

Angela LoRé

Lowe Foundation

Dee Ann McIntyre

Mid-Atlantic Committee of NMWA

Monica O’Neill

Laura Perkins

Margaret H. and Jim Perkins

Mary Poelzlbauer

Alice M. Starr

Brooke and Heyward Taylor

Frances Luessenhop Usher

Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell

Courtney Johnson Walker

Velda Warner

Daisy Sloan White

Carolyn and John Young

$10,000–$24,999

Anonymous (4)

Kathe Hicks Albrecht and Mark J. Albrecht

Jean and Clyde Alexander

Helen Brown Bechtel

Arlene Begelman

Katherine and David Bradley

Nancy Taylor Bubes and Alan Bubes

Lisa Cannon and Charles

Edison Taylor

Rose Carter

Clark-Winchcole Foundation

Donna Paolino Coia and Arthur Coia in memory of Carol Lascaris

Constance M. Cooper

Charitable Foundation

Lizette Corro

Mrs. and Mr. Barbara Cox

Elizabeth Crane

Lynn Finesilver Crystal

Liz and Tim Cullen

John and Brittain Damgard

Susan and Frank Dunlevy

Karyn Frist

Susan Gage

Marguerite F. Godbold

Carol Brown Goldberg and Henry Goldberg

Ann K. Gunn

Ilene and Jeffrey Gutman

Lorraine Gyauch

Adrienne and Bill Hanna

Madge Green Henry

Bob and Betsy Huffman

Japan Committee of NMWA

Sally L. Jones

Ellen Stirn Mavec

Cynthia Adler McKee

Amy Shelton McNutt Charitable Trust

Leila W. Mischer

Mar y Mocas and Mar vin Tseu

Elizabeth and Chuck Nash

Carol and Gerry Parker

The Mary Potishman Lard Trust

Mary Lynn Reese

Jocelyn Selig

Kathy Sierra

Dot and Ned Snyder

Sony Corporation of America Foundation

Sara Steinfeld

Jessica S. and Louis Sterchi

Annie Simonian Totah

Sarah Bucknell Treco

Charlotte and Paul Tripplehorn

Harriet L. Warm

Tamara White

Betty Bentsen Winn

Jean and Donald Wolf

$1,000–$9,999

Anonymous (2)

Susan and Ron Antinori

Alexandra Armstrong

Jaquita Ball

Virginia Banchoff

Cynthia Dahlin and Ron Barusch

Victoria and James Bell

Joan Benedetti

Elizabeth Birka-White

Kathryn Bonansinga

Terrye Brosh

Laura Brouse-Long

Margaret C. Boyce Brown

Kaaren Cabraja

Shelley Carton

Marian Cohen

Donna Collins

Beth Colocci

Valerie Corvin

Lorna Cowher

Loretta Dakin

Dr. Beverly Dale

Tommye Lou Davis

Marilena Disilvio

Helen DuBois

Kenneth P. Dutter

Doug and Joyce Eagles

Ricky Eatherly

Maribeth Frazer and John B. Frazer, Jr.

Michele Garside, PhD

Patricia Mast and Kenneth S. George

Kathleen A. Guinn

June Hajjar

Christine Hansen

Fruzsina M. Harsanyi and Raymond Garcia*

The museum’s collection galleries feature a thematic installation that connects works of art across time and genre.

To join us in the Space to Soar capital campaign today, visit nmwa.org/2soar.

Elizabeth Hawthorne

Adrienne Hensley

Barbara Holdridge

Marissa A. and James Huttinger

Debra Bennett Jackson

Pamela C. Johnson and Wesley King

Martha Jones

Ellen Jozoff

Noriko Kashiwagi

R. Sue Kaufman

Susan Kennedy and Julie Hewitt

Elizabeth and James Kiernan

Arlene Fine Klepper and Martin Klepper

Kay Lachter

Jana Lawton

William R. and Christine M. Leahy

Joanne Lyman

Nannette Maciejunes

Frances MacIntyre

Osborne Phinizy Mackie and Dr. Morgan D. Delaney

Jane Maland

Rebecca Matejcek-Chang

Marsha Mateyka

Kate B. Maurras

Iris McWilliams

Toni Ratner Miller

Joyce Henderson Mims

Anu Mitra

Glenda Oakley

James O’Donnell and Ann Okerson

Karen Ross and John O. Oswalt

Jill Over

Pamela J. Parizek

Joanne Pekarik

Dede and Tom Petri

Diane and Carolyn Plank

Sue Plattner-Smith

Phoebe Marlys Pollinger

Stanley Poss

Jacqueline L. Quillen*

Hedy M. Ratner

Barbara Richter

Sandra Riggs

Mr. Markley Roberts

Elizabeth Robinson

Michaela and Robert Robinson

Joy Roller

Aleza and Joe Rosenberg

Kitty Rubenstein

Genevieve McSweeney and Frederick Ryan

Mary Jane Rynd

Julie A. Sapone

Anikó G. Schott

Jennifer L. Sigler

Lera Smith, Ph.D. and Steven Smith

Linda Watkins Sorkin

Alyssa K. Mertz and Susan K. Sovel

Joanne Stringer

Douglas K. Struck

Kim and Sarah Baldwin Swig

Sarah Shell Teague

Mary and Charles Teeple

Margaret Thorne

Patricia and Ellen Tice

Demara Titzer

Krystyna Wasserman

Tela Arrington Webb

Tara Beauregard Whitbeck

B. Joan White

Marie Wilkie

Pamela and George Willeford

Mara Witzling

Barbara Wolanin

Additional Supporters

Anonymous (2)

Murray Abramsky

Susan Addiss

Eva Adler

Eleanor Allen

Jennifer Allport-Anderson

Constance Allquist

Sandra Alstadt

Kate Amend

Ms. Khristie Andrus

Kathleen Arleth

Charlotte and Walter L. Arnstein

Phyllis Asnien

Pam Augspurger

Diane Azzolin

R. Baab

Nancy Baillie

Joanne Baizer

Therese Baker-Degler

Luke Balistreri

Maureen Banks

Ghada Batrouni

Barbara Baugh

Karen Bearor

Harold Belcher

Patricia Belknap

Wendy Bidstrup

Katharine Bigelow

Mrs. Charlotte Bird

Carol Bivins

Leslie Blakemore

Odette Blum

Carrie Bolster

Pat Bonner

Louise Borke

Judy Boroskin

Arline Boyce

Kathryn Boylan

Kathleen Boyle

Bonnie Brae

Dr. Thomas R. Broker

Ruth Brown

Katherine Bucknell Maguire

Caron Cadle and Lesley Gamble

Ms. Maurine Canarsky

Susan Carbo

Judy Card

Bonnie Carpenter

Dorothy Cartwright

Blanca Cedillos

Sharon Cherry

Elinor Christiansen

Tamara Churns-Gilman

Joan Clarke

Karen L. Clute

Carol Cooke

Mary Cooper

Ms. Donna J. Danielson

Charlotte M. Davis, Ed.D.

Julia Dawson

Judith Degraff

Sheila Delaney

Carol A. Delany

Barbara Denrich

Pam Dernham

Carol Ann Detlef

Sanna Deutsch

Anne Devaney

C. Diehl

Beverly Doggrell

Dina Dorich

Pat Dorman

Anna Doyle

Genevieve Driver

Esther Drozner

Jacquolyn Duerr

Janet Duggins

Gail Dunlap

Fynnette Eaton

Jola Edwards

Marion Ehrich

Susanne E. and Clayton W. Eisinger

Eddie and Rachel Eitches

Robert and Marilyn Ellsworth

MaryLe Emmett

Molly Engle

Jean Etsinger

Robert and Della Ewart

Kimberly Finger

The renovated galleries showcase muchloved works of art from the museum’s collection as well as recent acquisitions that have never been on view.

Lois Fink

Kristine Fisher

Mr. Brian Flaherty

Susan Fleischman

Margaret Fouse

Ms. Susan A. Fox

Nancy Fox

Wendy J. Frances

Elaine Franco

Elizabeth French

Raymond K. Fudge

Patricia Funaro

Odelia Funke

Deborah Gaensbauer

Julie Galbierz

Lesley Gamble

Joyce and Roy Gamse

Barbara Gartley

Lorna Geiler

Maria Gharakhanian

Priscilla Gibbs

Mary C. Giglio and Peter Ciesielski

Mary Gillis

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph F. Gleason

Jane Godfrey

Andrea Goldberg

Marilyn Goldfeather

Gordon and Nancy Goodman

Denise Graffeo

Cherlyn Granrose

Sharon Grant

Dean A. and Lisa A. Graves

John Griffin

Diane M. Gulseth

Kari Gunter-Seymour

Jolynda H. and David M. Halinski

Jo Hamby

Catherine Hamel

Linnea Hamer

John Hanks

Kaaren Hardy

Patricia Harrington

Mary J. Hayden and Carla J. Tomaso

Betty and Tom Hays

Mrs. Gretchen L. Hays

Kathleen Hayes

Sara Heineke

Mary Heiss and Harold Dorenbecher

Camille Helminski

Susan Hengelsberg

Nancy Henningsen

Marium Henson

Jay Herson

Delina Hickey

June and George Higgins

Ms. Margaret M. Higgins

Charlotte Hill

Lucia Hill

Dorothy Hires

Rose Hofer

Pamela Hoiles

Joanie and Bobby Holt

Larry D. Hothem

Allyn Howlett

Ms. Constance Hunter

Julianne Hurst

Linda M. Ingersoll

Mary Ingram

Tania Iwanoswki

Jackie Jablonski

Carin Jackson

Laurie Jacobs

Leslie Jacobson

Marjorie Jeanchild

Helen Jennette

Karen Jerome and Jonathan Eig

Howard Johnston

Christine Johnston

Rosalyn and Gary* Jonas

Grace Kaelin

Ms. Nannette Kalani

Arnold and Marcia Kaplin

Dorothy Kearns

Mae Keary

Peter Kern

Cookie Kerxton

Deborah and Bruce Klein

Sylvia Kihara

Maggie Kildee

Susan Kindelt

Beverly Kohot

Barbara J. Kraft and Peter Winkler

Davida Kristy

Ms. Margaret H. Lacey

Abbie Laskey

Mary Ellen Lavenberg

Rene Lawson

Suzanne Lemakis

Ms. Patricia L. Leslie

Marie Leyko and Gerald Poje

Gloria Lieberstein

JoAnn Lindstrom-Clark

Jo Lucas

Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr

Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Ph.D.

Vilma Luther

Samantha Macinnis

Velma Magill

Louise Magoon

Leah Magyary

Barbara Malatesta

Leslie Marria

Alice Martinelli

Beth and John Mayfield

Nancy McCarthy

Dorothea McFarland

Dorothy and Bill McSweeny

Vonda Meier

Gail Brotherton Meyers

Dr. Martha Mihaly Black, PhD

Ann Mirels

Anisa Mohanty

Marcia Morse

Nancy Jo Mullen

Adele Nagelberg

Mira Nakashima-Yamal

Dawn Nelson

Sue Nelson

Christie Neuger

Bonnie Nickol

Barbara Norton

Katie Norton

Lucia O’Reilly

Marie Obermann

Mary Mark and John Ockerbloom

Shirley Oliner

Madeline and Allan Olson

Linda Onderko

Norma Osborn

Mary Ott

Jacquelyn Ottman

Jane Pacelli

Judson Parsons

Joan Patton

Paula Paul

Eleanor Pendleton

Deborah Perry

Kathryn Peters

Kathleen Petty

Caroline Pickens

Heather Pierce

Dr. Patricia Pinson

Ms. Nancy E. Pirt

Ellen Poje

Margaret R. Polson

Mrs. Oveta Hall Popjoy

Jeanne Porter

Lynn Preis

Sabiyha Prince

Laura Provan

Jess Rampulla

Sonia Redfield

Millie Redinger

Jane Reynolds

Myra Rhoades

Catherine Rickbone

Marilyn Rishkofski

Gail Ritchie

Kathleen Robel

Diane C. Robertson

Shantay Robinson

Laura Rocco

Ms. Patsy Rogers

Lynne Rogerson

Sharon Ross

Judi Rossman

Jane Rostov

Helen Rothman

Ms. Joanna Rotte

Ms. Geraldine T. Rottenberg

Kristin Rover

Debra Rubino

Joyce Runyan

Susan and Harvey Sachs

Artemis Schatzkin

Mary Alice Schatzle and Glendowlyn Howard

Mary C. Schlosser

Gail Schneider

Stephanie Schwartz

Patricia Seiler

Rimma Selutin-Reusch

Anne Serafin

Laine Shakerdge

Elisa Shearer

Carola S. Shepard

Sandra Sider

Katrina Simmons

Sonya Singer Livingston

Beryl Ramsay Smith

Christine Smith

Dawn Smith

Donna Smith

Dorothy Smith

Fran Smith

Monica Smith

R. P. Smith

Rebecca Smith

Ruth Ann Snowden

Nan Spalding

Sue Spincic

Charlene Spretnak

Janet Stanley

Ms. Victoria Stanley

Jan Steinhauser

Maryan F. Stephens

Joy Sterling

J Stimmel

Mary Stockton

Bonnie Stone

Margaret H. Stone

Anita Stowe

Ann Strand and Stephen Shapiro

Melody Suzor

Jane Swicegood*

Archana Szpak

Mary Harding Talbot

Betty Taska

Ms. Nancy E. Tate

Clytie Taylor

Ms. Seema J. Tepper

Nena Thayer

Anne Thompson

Betty Thul

Richard Tron

Linda Tully

Lynn Ubhaus

Diane Ullius

Melissa Unger

John A. Vassallo and Mary Vassallo

Sybil Veeder

Maria Vegega

Pauline Wahl

Susan Walters

Minnie Warburton

Ashley Warren

Andrea Watkins

Kimm Watson

Dr. Elissa B. Weaver

Bobbie Weider

Kathleen Whitehead-Churns

Nancy Wieman

Cynthia Wilcox and Sarah Kellogg

Laura and Dale Williams

Jean Wilson

Gladys Wingfield

Amy Winton

Barbara Withers

Lynnette Woerne

Kathleen Woodcock

Marianne Woods

Ruth Wright

Cindi Wynia

Rosemary Wyse

Yuriko Yamaguchi

Rivka Yerushalmi

Cecelia Yoder

Patricia Yosha

Gail Zabowski

Laurie Zastrow

Kate Zehnter

*Deceased (list as of August 1, 2023)

SPACE TO SOAR

Exhibition Support

NMWA’s reopening exhibitions and installations are made possible through special gifts from friends and donors.

The Sky’s the Limit is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. This exhibition is underwritten by Presenting Sponsor

Denise Littlefield Sobel. Curatorial research funds were provided by Marcia Myers Carlucci. Additional support for the exhibition catalogue comes from The Deborah Buck Foundation.

Remix: The Collection is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibition is sponsored by Lugano Diamonds. Additional funding provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Sue J. Henry and Carter G. Phillips Exhibition Fund, and the Clara M. Lovett Emerging Artists Fund.

Impressive: Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella and Hung Liu: Making History are organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. These exhibitions are generously supported by Stephanie Sale and the members of NMWA.

Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibition is made possible by a generous bequest from Marjorie B. Rachlin.

In Focus: Artists at Work is produced by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in collaboration with Smartypants Pictures and Art Processors. The video series is generously supported by the members of NMWA. Project design is made possible through the generous support of Denise Littlefield Sobel, with additional funding provided by Jamie Gorelick and Richard Waldhorn.

Display screens contributed by Sony Corporation of America.

The “Create Connections” interactive kiosk is produced by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in collaboration with Art Processors and is made possible through the generous support of Denise Littlefield Sobel.

//

Alisa Banks, History of a People, 2023; Artist’s book with wood, cloth, human hair, beads, shell, cotton, ink, graphite, paper, paint, glass, scent, and thread; 20 × 14 × 12 in. (closed); NMWA, Gift made possible through the generosity of the artist and a bequest from Marjorie B. Rachlin

Holdıng Ground

Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Lynora Williams

Artists’ books have always been at the heart of the collections of the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center (LRC) at NMWA. In celebration of the museum’s new Learning Commons and its re-envisioned gallery space, the LRC invited nine book artists to create works that honor the museum, its holdings, and women artists whose art has been historically overlooked. Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts features works by Alisa Banks, Adjoa Jackson Burrowes, Julie N. Chen, Suzanne Coley, IBé Crawley, Colette Fu, Kerry McAleer-Keeler, María Verónica San Martín, and Maricarmen Solis.

many of the works reflect on the museum as a special and evolving place for art by women, now and into the future. Others remind viewers that creativity is expressed and uplifted in other spaces, from small interiors to vast outdoor terrain. While the books are primarily celebratory, all are rooted in the sense of struggle that infuses women’s artistic expression. For some, this struggle is an outgrowth of personal circumstance; for others, the result of nearly crushing historical forces. Refecting the evolving world of book arts, no two works share the same structure. They include altered books, pop-up books, traditional bindings, and a variety of unique shapes and sculptural forms.

Telling NMWA’s Story

Julie N. Chen (b. 1963) realized her book, Many Hands (2023), as a meditation on NMWA’s role as both a repository of women’s art and as an institution that catalyzes women’s artistic engagement. Many Hands honors the family members, friends, and collaborators who have contributed to Chen’s own creative practices. The work comprises multiple elements anchored by a fexagon, a folding six-sided ring, which encircles a necklace beaded with a quotation from American painter Georgia O’Keefe (1887–1986): “I feel that there is something unexplored about woman that only a woman can explore.” Members of Marigold Beads, a Zimbabwean collective, created the necklace, a collaboration forged during Chen’s recent trip to southern Africa.

Other works engage in conversation with the museum’s collections. The book 1250 New York Ave. NW (2023) by Maricarmen Solis (b. 2000) re-creates NMWA’s iconic building in miniature, complete with small images of selections from the museum’s holdings, including works by Graciela Iturbide,

Julie Chen, Many Hands, 2023; Artist’s book with letterpress printing, pressure printing, and Risograph printing, 4 × 18 × 18 in.; NMWA, Gift made possible through the generosity of the artist and a bequest from Marjorie B. Rachlin

Opposite: Adjoa Jackson Burrowes, Blossom Again 2023; Artist’s book with offset printing and acrylic on paper, 12 × 36 × 21 in.; NMWA, Gift made possible through the generosity of the artist and a bequest from Marjorie B. Rachlin

Berthe Morisot, and Suzanne Valadon. Kerry McAleer-Keeler (b. 1971) flled her traditionally bound book, Boiling Points (2023), with the names of women whose work has been part of NMWA’s collections. Within this list, she nestled observations on the continuing bias against women artists. She rendered the book’s text in black type on cream-colored paper, as if to assert the black-and-white facts of the critical and commercial challenges that women artists face.

In Blossom Again (2023), author/artist Adjoa Jackson Burrowes (b. 1957) reimagined and altered her children’s story Grandma’s Purple Flowers (2000) into an elaborate artist’s book that pays homage to artist Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891–1978). Burrowes folded and curled the pages of her original book. She embellished the work with paper spherical shapes printed to mimic Thomas’s abstract paintings and added long paper strips, or “dangles.” Burrowes explained that she wanted to “create a vibrant visual dialogue across generations,” by merging sculptural forms with Thomasinspired abstract silkscreen monotypes.

Seventeenth-century Flemish painter Clara Peeters (ca. 1581/85–after 1636) inspired Colette Fu (b. 1969) in her new work, which honors the collection and vision of NMWA founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay. When closed, Fu’s book appears to be a copy of H. W. Janson’s History of Art, a reference work that for years largely ignored the contributions of women. But the surprise, upon opening, is a pop-up profusion of fowers, a near replica of Peeters’s A Still Life of Lilies, Roses, Iris, Pansies, Columbine, Love-in-a-Mist, Larkspur, and Other Flowers in a Glass Vase on a Tabletop, Flanked by a Rose and a Carnation (ca. 1610), which was donated by Holladay to the museum. Fu also included a quotation from Holladay, along with images of her journal entries.

The artists deployed fowers, text, hand-stitching, scent, beadwork, and other motifs and techniques to honor NMWA.

PHOTO BY SIBILA SAVAGE

Flowers are also central to In Bloom (2023) by Suzanne Coley (b. 1965), a mixed-media book of handmade textile fowers, postage stamps, hand embroidery, and vintage textiles. It contains silkscreened images and the text of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?…”). Coley sees NMWA as a place “where women’s art blooms.” Her fowers also channel her older relatives who toiled in New York City’s garment industry.

Reclaiming History

Other Holding Ground books are darker. During a year of loss, which included the death of her infant granddaughter, IBé Crawley (b. 1959) took to stitching to cope with grief. Her running stitches, looping overcasts, and cross stitches fortif and decorate her house-shaped work, A Dwelling for Her Story (2023). The book meditates on women’s need for creative space and on Crawley’s ongoing commitment to the preservation of African American history and culture.

Memory is at the center of the six-sided box and its delicate hat-like covering created by Alisa Banks (b. 1961), in which, as she describes, “scent is the main object.” The box holds perfume-flled apothecary jars representing aspects of the African American experience: journey, arrival, harrow, protest, visioning. According to Banks, “scent is what helps with memory when there is no written historical record.” Her work, History of a People (2023), speaks to women’s contribution to and communication of history through activities such as telling stories and engaging in needlework.

While Banks drew on the scent of memory, María Verónica San Martín (b. 1981) turned to the geology of memory. Her work commemorates the people murdered during General Augusto Pinochet’s seventeen-year Chilean dictatorship, which began in 1973. Mujeres Buscadoras, Fragmentary Memory, Chile (2023) includes a small shovel, handkerchiefs, and sand from Chile’s Atacama Desert—a geologic wonder, but also a site where many victims of the Pinochet regime were buried. Mothers of the disappeared still search for the remains of their loved ones there. These women adopted traditional cultural practices, even the Pinochet regime’s national dance, as forms of resistance. San Martín’s book serves as a visual companion to these handkerchief-waving, dancing mothers of the disappeared.

Transcending the Page

These remembered dancers, garment workers, painters, quilters, storytellers, photographers, printmakers, and book artists demonstrated resilience and transcendence, sometimes in the face of seemingly unsurmountable odds, to make art. Inaugurating NMWA’s renewed building, they are among the millions of women holding ground, continually seizing spaces for their artistic expression.

// Lynora Williams is former director of NMWA’s Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center and consulting curator of Holding Ground.

Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibition is made possible by a generous bequest from Marjorie B. Rachlin.

PHOTO BY JOHN WOO

Tech-tonic Changes

In Focus: Artists at Work

After walking through the museum’s entrance, visitors encounter the video presentation In Focus: Artists at Work just off the main rotunda. Guests can begin their visits in this immersive theater with an intimate look into the work and inspirations of contemporary artists through short, documentary-style videos, each profling an artist in NMWA’s collection. Artist interviews as well as archival and behind-the-scenes footage capture the essence of each artist’s work and process.

One of the new standout features of NMWA’s revitalized building is the use of technology to bring artists’ voices to life. Starting from the ground foor, immersive experiences and digital prompts enhance guests’ exploration of the museum. Through digital engagement, NMWA seeks to create an experience that will spark curiosity, inspire advocacy, and encourage slow looking among visitors as they move through the building’s expanded and redesigned art spaces.

With input from staf members across the institution, NMWA’s curatorial team selected a diverse group of contemporary artists working in a variety of mediums to be featured in the series. The artists are nationally and internationally recognized and have had major exhibitions at NMWA. Debuting throughout the opening year, the eight flms profle Ambreen Butt, Sonya Clark, Colette Fu, the Guerrilla Girls, Graciela Iturbide, Delita Martin, Rania Matar, and Alison Saar. For this project, NMWA partnered with the Emmy and Clio Award-winning flm production company Smartypants Pictures, which directed and produced the series.

When the museum reopens, the frst four flms will debut. They feature:

– The Guerrilla Girls: “Be critical of the system, but be open to the art,” advises one member of the Guerrilla Girls in their NMWA flm. Since the 1980s, the feminist art collective has called out sexism and racism in the art world via bold advertising-style graphics featuring

Laura Hoffman and Virginia Treanor

eye-opening facts and fgures. NMWA holds more than eighty prints and multiples by the collective. Watch the Guerrilla Girls—who maintain their anonymity by wearing gorilla masks in public—poster New York City with their newest provocations.

Delita Martin: With her large-scale, mixed-media prints, which primarily feature Black women, Martin creates a new iconography for African Americans based on African tradition, personal recollections, and physical materials. Watch the artist at work as she draws, sews, collages, paints, and explains the spiritual significance of her practice. “Being able to work on these portraits is an act of prayer—I’m literally just a vessel in the studio,” she says. The artist’s frst major museum exhibition was held at NMWA in 2019, and her work Believing in Kings (2018) is part of the collection.

Rania Matar: As a photographer, Matar, who works in both the United States and the Middle East, explores female adolescence and womanhood, creating portraits of young women in lush and unforgiving landscapes. The video follows the artist as she photographs a new subject in New York City and discusses the infuence of her Lebanese, Palestinian, and American background on

“Be critical of the system, but be open to the art,” advises a member of the Guerrilla Girls.

Still from “Delita Martin,” from the NMWA flm series

“In Focus: Artists at Work”

Still from “Guerrilla Girls,” from the NMWA flm series “In Focus: Artists at Work”

Opposite: In Focus: Artists at Work introduces contemporary artists in an immersive gallery

her practice. “Being from two cultures is a gift. . . . I see myself [in the women I photograph]. We’re creating a narrative together,” she says. NMWA’s collection holds three works by Matar, who was also featured in the 2016 exhibition She Who Tells a Story

– Alison Saar: “My work talks about issues of gender, race, equity, our history, and our present. Love and compassion. And hopefully [it] helps guide us towards a brighter future,”

Saar says in her flm. Though primarily a sculptor, the artist works across mediums in service to each artwork, which often feature powerful fgures. The flm follows Saar into her studios, where she sculpts (with chainsaw!), carves, paints, and prints. In 2016, NMWA presented an exhibition of Saar’s prints, many held in the museum’s collection, and last year the museum acquired her sculpture Scorch Song (2022).

Right and below: Stills from “Rania Matar,” and “Alison Saar,” from the NMWA flm series “In Focus: Artists at Work”

To craft an in-gallery experience around this exciting new flm series, NMWA worked with Art Processors, an experiential design and technology company. Art Processors designed the gallery to be an immersive theater by transforming the flms into a multi-screen format that encompasses visitors’ feld of vision for a profound experience. In Focus also includes an artist highlight corner, with graphic panels for each artist featured in the flms. The graphic panels share more about the artists as well as prompts with QR codes that link to special web pages. On the pages, visitors can learn more about the artists’ inspirations, where to fnd their artworks on view at NMWA, and much more.

Creating Connections

As visitors continue to explore the museum, they encounter a custom touchscreen table in the third-foor collection galleries. This table, built in collaboration with Art Processors, provides a playful and exploratory experience designed to help visitors make connections through ideas that link

artworks on view. The touch table invites users to discover NMWA’s collection across time, medium, and geography through nine themes. In addition to learning more about the artworks, users will respond to fun prompts and explore related artworks in the redesigned galleries. Visitors will fnd this approach simultaneously surprising, enriching, and personalized.

In addition to the immersive theater experience and the interactive touchscreen table, QR codes found throughout each exhibition space will link to new website content that enhances the in-gallery experience with guided artwork explorations, supplemental artist information, label transcripts, additional media, and more. Through the thoughtful use of technology, NMWA is committed to enhancing the visitor experience, both in person and online.

// Laura Hoffman is director of digital engagement and Virginia Treanor is senior curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

In Focus: Artists at Work is produced by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in collaboration with Smartypants Pictures and Art Processors. The video series is generously supported by the members of NMWA. Project design and presentation is made possible through the generous support of Denise Littlefeld Sobel, with additional funding provided by Jamie Gorelick and Richard Waldhorn. Display screens contributed by Sony Corporation of America.

The “Create Connections” interactive kiosk is produced by the National Museum of Women in the Arts in collaboration with Art Processors and is made possible through the generous support of Denise Littlefeld Sobel.

In NMWA’s new flm series, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage capture each artist’s work and process.

The “Create Connections” interactive kiosk helps visitors discover new works through common themes and ideas

Museum Shop

PLEASE NOTE: the online Shop is closed through September as we prepare to move back into the building. Visit on October 1 to order the products below and more!

Alma Woodsey Thomas Mailable Paper Doll

This paper doll, inspired by artist Alma Woodsey Thomas, comes with a blank card and an envelope so you can send it to friends. Assembled doll is 12 in. high. $22/Member $19.80

“Heaven’s Garden” Umbrella

Featuring work by artist Willemien Bardawil, this umbrella will brighten your rainy day.

$42/Member $37.80

National Museum of Women in the Arts: Collection Highlights

The museum’s new collection highlights catalogue explores the breadth of NMWA’s holdings, drawing connections among more than 180 works and sharing new essays by more than forty artists and scholars. Hardcover, 264 pages.

$60/Member $54

Tranquility Incense Sticks

These premium incense sticks, featuring notes of coconut, citrus, and sandalwood, will help you fnd peace, serenity, and tranquility.

$14.99/Member $13.49

Pink Squiggly Earrings

Sustainably hand-crafted with light polymer clay by artist Chavelli Tsui, these earrings add fair to any outft.

$58/Member $52.20

Wanderer Pillow Cover

Add warmth and texture to your space with this handembroidered pillow cover. 18 × 18 in. $70/Member $63

The Story of Art Without Men

From art historian and podcaster Katy Hessel, this is a new story of art from the Renaissance to the present day, through more than 300 artworks. Hardcover, 512 pages.

$45/Member $40.50

“Protection from the Patriarchal Gaze” Spell Candle

Shield yourself from the gaze of the patriarchy by lighting one of these handmade candles. Two candle styles, sold separately.

$23/Member $20.70

“Art Every Day” Hat

Show the world your love of art with this stylish cap. “Art” appears on the front, “Every Day” on the back. 100% cotton, adjustable strap. 19.25 in. circumference.

$32/Member $28.80

Silk “Jungle Night” Scarf

This double-sided 100% silk scarf is designed by artist Jessie Zhao and features hand-rolled edges with handstitched fnishing. 35 × 35 in. $149/Member $134.10

Supporting Roles

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Winton S. Holladay—Chair of the Board, Susan Goldberg—President, Sheila Shaffer—Treasurer and Finance Chair, Charlotte Buxton— Secretary, Nancy Duber— Governance Chair, Susan Fisher

Family Lore

National Book Award–winning author Elizabeth Acevedo’s frst novel for adults tells the story of a Dominican American family through the voices of women. Hardcover, 368 pages. $30/Member $27

Sterling—Alice West Director** , Pamela Parizek—Audit Chair, Marcia Myers Carlucci— Building Chair, Amy Weiss— Communications Chair, Ashley Davis—Government Relations Chair Nancy Nelson Stevenson— Works of Art Chair, Diane CaseyLandry—Investment Chair, Gina Adams, Janice Adams, Lizette Corro, Deborah Dingell, Martha Dippell, Susan Dunlevy, Belinda de Gaudemar, Anjali Gupta, Pamela Gwaltney, Eliza Holladay, Cindy Jones, Sally Jones, Marlene Malek, Ann Walker Marchant, Jacqueline Mars, Juliana May, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Lucretia Adymy

Risoleo, Stephanie Sale, Julie Sapone, Alejandra Segura, Karen Sonneborn, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Annie Totah, Sarah Treco, Sara M. Vance Waddell, Alice West, Patti White

** Ex-Offcio

NMWA ADVISORY BOARD

The Sky’s the Limit Exhibition Catalogue

NMWA’s inaugural reopening exhibition features large-scale contemporary sculpture and immersive installations. This book includes imagery of the sculptures on view and related work by each participating artist. Giving primacy to artists’ voices, the publication shares artists’ essays and verse on the inspirations behind their work. Softcover, 128 pages. $32.95/Member $29.66

Sarah Bucknell Treco—Chair, Noreen Ackerman, Kathe Hicks Albrecht, Sunny Scully Alsup, Jaquita Ball, Jo Ann Barefoot, Gail Bassin, Arlene Begelman, Sue Ann Berlin, Catherine Little Bert, Brenda Bertholf, Caroline Boutté, Margaret C. Boyce Brown, Nancy Taylor Bubes, Deborah G. Carstens, Amb. Maria Eugenia Chiozza, Barbara Cohen, Marcella Cohen, Marian Cohen, Donna Paolino Coia, Robyn D. Collins, Linda Comstock, Margaret

Conklin, Elizabeth Crane, Lynn Finesilver Crystal, Elizabeth Cullen, Mary Lou Dauray, Verónica de Ferrero, Belinda de Gaudemar, Kitty de Isola, Michele De Nevers, Katy Graham Debost, Alexis Deutsch, Ellen Drew, Kenneth P. Dutter, Christine Edwards, Anne N. Edwards, Gerry Ehrlich, Elva FerrariGraham, Charlotte K. Forster,

Rosemarie C. Forsythe, Barbara S. Goldfarb, Sally Gries, Michelle Guillermin, Anjali Gupta, Pamela Gwaltney, Jolynda Halinski, Robin Hammer, Florencia Helbling, Sue J. Henry, Imogene Jensen, Jan Jessup, Alice Kaplan, Paulette Kessler, Arlene Fine Klepper, Doris Kloster, Carol Kolsky, Robin Rosa Laub, Elizabeth Leach, Cynthia Madden Leitner, Sarah H. Lisanby, M.D., Fred M. Levin, Bonnie Loeb, Gloria and Dan Logan, Angela M. LoRé, Clara M. Lovett, Joanne Ludovici, Marcia MacArthur, Trijsa Malisoff, Linda Mann, C. Raymond Marvin, Rebecca Matejcek-Chang, Ellen Stirn Mavec, Dee Ann McIntyre, Cynthia McKee, Constance C. McPhee, Lorna Meyer Calas, Anu Mitra, Milica Mitrovich, Mary V. Mochary, Claudia Pensotti Mosca, Jeannette T. Nichols, Kay Woodward Olson, Nancy Olson, Monica T. O’Neill, Carol Parker, Anthony Podesta, Lucy Rhame, Helena Ribe, Barbara Richter, Elizabeth Robinson, Tara Rudman, Elizabeth A. Sackler, Stephanie Sale, Consuelo Salinas de Pareja, Steven Scott, Kathy Sierra, Ann Simon, Joan Simon, Geri Skirkanich, Heidi Brake Smith, Dot Snyder, Denise Littlefeld Sobel, Patti Amanda Spivey, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Judith Karlen Stein, Sara Steinfeld, Jo Stribling, Christine Suppes, Susan Swartz, Cheryl S. Tague, Mahinder Tak, Judy Spence Tate, Lisa Cannon Taylor, MaryRoss Taylor, Brooke Taylor, Deborah Dunklin Tipton, Marichu Valencia, Sara M. Vance Waddell, Minal Vazirani, Victoria Vermes, Toni G. Verstandig, Virginia Voorhees, Paula S. Wallace, Harriet L. Warm, Krystyna Wasserman, Patti White, Tamara White, Carol Winer, Rhett D. Workman

(lists as of August 15)

Our landmark 1908 building, which stands as a fagship for women artists and advocates worldwide, reopens on October 21 following a top-to-bottom renovation and restoration. The updated building supports the groundbreaking work we do to champion women artists. As the building’s frst full

renovation since 1987, the project honors the structure’s history while enhancing its public spaces, mechanical systems, and much more.

Join us! In addition to the public opening, all museum members and campaign donors are invited to enjoy y the new building frst at a special member preview

on Friday, October 20. Virtual events after reopening will share the renewed space with members who are not able to visit in person.

Come to NMWA’s grand reopening to see the museum’s re-envisioned and renewed landmark spaces.