Women in the Arts Summer 2021

Summer 2021

CHAMPION WOMEN THROUGH THE ARTS DEAR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS,

Along with the museum’s Board and leadership, I am pleased to share news of the upcoming renovation of our landmark 1908 building. On Monday, August 9, we will close the museum for extensive refurbishments, while we continue exhibitions, events, and programming off-site and online.

Updates to the building will refresh our space and heighten our impact as the only major museum in the world dedicated to women in the arts. When we reopen in fall 2023, visitors will find:

– Expanded public spaces—including a new exhibition gallery and education studio—that will help us showcase new art and encourage the next generation of artists.

– Improved amenities that enhance accessibility, wayfinding, and connectivity, engaging audiences and enriching their experiences.

– Updated infrastructure that preserves our iconic spaces, improves our environmental footprint, and helps us care for our collection of more than 5,500 works of art.

Our building serves as the nexus for a worldwide community of advocates for art and women. Its renovation will enable us to tell a more complete story of women in the arts and to share that story widely. I hope you enjoy reading more about our plans and seeing renderings of the renewed space.

As we enter this new phase in the museum’s history, I can’t help but reflect on the recent loss of our visionary founder, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay. She and her husband, Wallace, purchased the building in 1983 and transformed it into our unique museum. We are honored to carry her legacy forward.

This comprehensive building restoration is supported by our Space to Soar capital campaign. Donors and friends have stepped up in wonderful ways, but we still have 25% more to raise to reach our campaign goal of $66 million. We encourage you to join this effort, stay involved, and celebrate with us as we look to the museum’s future, reimagined.

MUSEUM INFORMATION

WOMEN IN THE ARTS

1250 New York Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005

Summer 2021 Volume 39, no. 3

PUBLIC TRANSIT

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DIRECTOR

Susan Fisher Sterling EDITOR

Elizabeth Lynch ASSISTANT EDITOR

https://nmwa.org/blog

Alicia Gregory

MAIN

Ella Jones

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Susan Fisher Sterling The Alice West Director

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DESIGN

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On the cover: The National Museum of Women in the Arts’ landmark building; Photo by Thomas H. Field Director’s photo: © Michele Mattei

Contents

“We are galvanized by the transformative possibilities of this renewal.”

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Built to Order: The Constructed World in the Museum’s Collection

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FEATURES

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Space to Soar: Renovating the Museum’s Historic Building

A top-to-bottom renovation will expand public spaces, enhance visitor amenities, and improve infrastructure— rejuvenating our landmark building for an exciting future.

WINTON SMOOT HOLLADAY

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Her Flag

A nationwide art and travel project led by artist Marilyn Artus commemorates the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment.

VIRGINIA TREANOR

The museum’s “Built to Order” collection gallery features artworks that evoke architecture and construction, offering fresh perspectives on public and private spaces.

HANNAH SHAMBROOM

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DEPARTMENTS

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Arts News

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Culture Watch

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Education Report

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Dedicated Donor 14 Calendar

18 Recent Acquisitions: Rania Matar 24 Collection on the Move: Alice Neel 25 Committee, Museum, and Member News 26 Member News 28 Supporting Roles 29 Museum Shop

Arts News Willis, Sadie Barnette, Ebony G. Patterson, Courtney Bowles and Mark Strandquist, and Black Quantum Futurism.

Staying Power is hosted by the Village of Arts and Humanities and curated by Monument Lab, a public art and history studio that facilitates conversations about the past, present, and future of monuments. Organizers hope to enact concrete change, too.

The Village funds communityled research into alternatives to policing and runs expungement clinics to help people purge their criminal records.

Participating artist Rasheedah Phillips, part of Black Quantum Futurism (and a full-time housing equity lawyer), advocates for laws that would prevent criminal records from being used in employment decisions and eviction records from being used to deny people housing.

COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS

COURTESY OF DAVID LEWIS GALLERY

PHOTO BY DAVE TAVANI, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST/MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERY

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Top to bottom, both from Staying Power, The Village of Arts and Humanities & Monument Lab, Philadelphia: Ebony G. Patterson, She Is…, 2021

SUMMER 2021

Courtney Bowles and Mark Strandquist, On the Day They Come Home, 2021

Staying Power An outdoor exhibition in Philadelphia’s Fairhill-Hartranft neighborhood honors residents who have kept the community vibrant in the face of gentrification, low life expectancy rates, and high rates of incarceration.

Staying Power, on view through July 10, features homegrown monuments in the form of public sculptures, photography, storefront activations, and performances by Deborah

In Memoriam Feminist artist Mary Beth Edelson, who worked on numerous initiatives for women artists, died April 20 at age 88.

She cofounded the feminist art journal Heresies (1977–1993) and the woman-artist-focused AIR Gallery in New York, and she co-organized the first National Conference for Women in the Visual Arts at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1972.

Edelson is perhaps best known as the creator of the work Some Living American Women Artists/Last Supper

(1972), for which she collaged images of women artists into the composition of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper and added dozens more of their photographs as a border. She placed Georgia O’Keeffe as Jesus; disciples and onlookers include Yoko Ono, Louise Bourgeois, and Faith Ringgold.

In addition to the original collage, she created prints and posters based on the work, one of which is in NMWA’s collection. She shared them widely to spread her vision of a community of women artists.

Winner’s Circle Women playwrights have recently taken home prestigious prizes for works that explore race and gender. Rachel Lynett won the 2021 Yale Drama Series Prize for her play Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson). The play is set in the fictional world of a post-second Civil War, in an all-Black state that is forced to confront itself. Paula Vogel, who selected Lynett’s work as the winner, wrote, “With a metatheatrical playfulness, Rachel Lynett’s play exposes the many layers to the notion of race in order to awaken us.”

Erika Dickerson-Despenza won the 2021 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her play cullud wattah, about the impact of the Flint, Michigan, water crisis on three generations of women. DickersonDespenza said that she wrote the play to “explore the politics of disgust, shame, and refusal by highlighting the rupture of government intervention at the intersection of capitalism and environmental racism.”

Maya Lin, Ghost Forest, 2021; Courtesy of the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy

Apples to Art The renowned art collection of philanthropist Agnes Gund is the subject of a new card game, Words of Art, featuring 150 works—half by women and a third by artists of color.

In the collaborative, Apples to Apples-style game, players

challenge friends and family to come up with the art card that best expresses a verbal prompt.

Artists whose work is represented in the deck include Louise Bourgeois, Sarah Sze, Teresita Fernandez, and Cecily Brown.

The game, published by Penguin Random House, was created by the Pentagram design firm and Gund’s daughter Catherine, a documentary filmmaker.

Making a Cameo Amid the pandemic’s chilling effect on theaters, 2020 was an odd year for women in the film industry. Recent reports from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film

at San Diego State University indicate that the percentage of U.S. top-grossing films featuring female protagonists declined precipitously—from 40% in 2019 to 29% in 2020.

However, women behind the camera made gains for the second consecutive year: women comprised 16% of directors working on the 100 top-grossing films in 2020, up from 12% in 2019 and just 4% in 2018.

Champion women through the arts with NMWA membership

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

JOIN US!

PHOTO BY MAYA LIN STUDIO

Ghost Forest Through November 14, Maya Lin’s installation for the Madison Square Park Conservancy brings the artist’s concern for ecology to the heart of New York City.

Ghost Forest appears as a startling grove of dead Atlantic white cedar trees. They recall the beetle-kill forests near Lin’s home and studio in Colorado, but they are sourced from the nearby New Jersey Pine Barrens, where trees have been killed by climate change-related events such as extreme weather and sea level rise.

Much of Lin’s work in recent years has examined species loss and climate change, and the artist hopes that this installation will serve as a call to action. Related programs include lectures, musical performances, and a soundscape featuring the calls of animals that were once abundant in Manhattan. Lin advocates for raising awareness of the current ecological crisis, urging people to protect the environment “by changing our relationship to the land itself.”

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Culture Watch //

EXHIBITIONS

CALIFORNIA

New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century BAMPFA, Berkeley August 28, 2021–January 30, 2022 https://bampfa.org This survey presents a kaleidoscopic view of feminist art, conveying the heterogeneous, intergenerational, and gender-fluid nature of feminist practices today.

Photographic compositions by Priya Kambli explore migration, transience, and cultural identity, a testament to the tangible, archival nature of photography.

ILLINOIS

Bisa Butler: Portraits Art Institute of Chicago Through September 6, 2021 https://www.artic.edu

FLORIDA

Twenty of Butler’s portrait quilts display her strategic use of textiles and expansive view of history in constructing narratives of Black life.

Heirloom: Weaving Memory with the Now

MARYLAND

Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville Through August 1, 2021 https://mocajacksonville.unf.edu

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

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MARYLAND // Nell Hall Williams, Blocks and Strips, 1971; Cotton and synthetic, 83 x 73 in.; Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, purchase with exchange funds from the Pearlstone Family Fund, and partial gift of the Andy Warhol Foundation; On view at the Baltimore Museum of Art

She Knew Where She Was Going: Gee’s Bend Quilts and Civil Rights

Since the early 1800s, the Gee’s Bend quilters have transformed fabric remnants into patterns that transcend the boundaries of the genre.

Baltimore Museum of Art Through August 1, 2021 https://artbma.org

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND ROBERTS PROJECTS, LOS ANGELES; PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISSISSIPPI ART MUSEUM

SUMMER 2021

MISSISSIPPI

MISSISSIPPI // Betye Saar, The Edge of Ethics, 2010; Mixed media assemblage, 410 ½ x 9 ½ x 5 ½ in.; Collection of the artist; On view at the Mississippi Museum of Art

Betye Saar: Call and Response Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson Through July 11, 2021 https://msmuseumart.org Saar’s incisive collages and sculptures confront and reclaim racist depictions using imagery from popular culture, family history, and spiritual traditions.

MISSOURI

Hannah Wilke: Art for Life’s Sake Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis Through January 16, 2022 https://pulitzerarts.org

This exhibition encompasses Wilke’s experimental, boundary-crossing art practice in sculpture, photography, video, and works on paper.

NEW YORK

The New Woman Behind the Camera Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City July 2–October 3, 2021 https://metmuseum.org This exhibition presents work by more than 120 women who embraced photography as a mode of professional and artistic expression from the 1920s through the 1950s.

PENNSYLVANIA

Fault Lines: Contemporary Abstraction by Artists from South Asia Philadelphia Museum of Art Through October 10, 2021 https://philamuseum.org

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BOOKS

The five featured women artists—Tanya Goel, Sheela Gowda, Prabhavathi Meppayil, Nasreen Mohamedi, and Zarina—explore ideas of memory and home through abstraction.

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International FRANCE

© 2020 MARSIE, EMANUELLE, DAMON, AND ANDREW SCHARLAT T, HANNAH WILKE COLLECTION & ARCHIVE, LOS ANGELES; LICENSED BY VAGA AT ARTIST’S RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK

Centre Pompidou, Paris Through August 23, 2021 https://www.centrepompidou.fr Featuring more than 500 works by 106 artists from the 1860s to the 1980s, this exhibition aims to record the history of women artists in abstraction.

MISSOURI // Hannah Wilke, Intercourse With…, 1975; Black-and-white photograph accompanying Intercourse With… installation, 1973–75, 8 ¾ x 7 in.; Courtesy of Hannah Wilke Collection & Archive, Los Angeles; On view at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation

Fierce Poise

Crying in H Mart

In Fierce Poise: Helen Frankenthaler and 1950s New York (Penguin Press, 2021), Alexander Nemerov sketches the early career of Frankenthaler (1928–2011) and notable characters of New York City’s art world at the time. Each chapter focuses on a specific date, one for each year 1950 through 1960. He brings the reader to a 1950 party that she attended as a recent Bennington College graduate and aspiring artist from a wealthy family; lands in 1952 on the date she completed Mountains and Sea, a painting that inaugurated her mature artistic style of staining paint on unprimed canvas; and ends on January 26, 1960, at the opening of a major exhibition of her work at the Jewish Museum. Nemerov spends perhaps too much time dissecting Frankenthaler’s five-year, on-and-off relationship with the moody and domineering art critic Clement Greenberg, and his account is sparse in illuminating the artist’s own perspective on her work and ambitions. Nonetheless, he describes Frankenthaler’s art beautifully—“swaths of color dissolving as they come into being”—and makes a strong case for her as an important abstract artist.

Michelle Zauner shines as the frontwoman of the celebrated indie-rock/pop band Japanese Breakfast. Her voice is ethereal, the music atmospheric. But in her memoir, Crying in H Mart (Knopf, 2021), Zauner shines in a different way. She delivers a heavy, raw coming-of-age story that centers around the death of her mother, Chongmi, from cancer in 2014. Zauner, whose mother was Korean and father white American, details a rocky adolescence in rural Oregon; the bittersweet, brutal months spent caring for Chongmi; and the empty aftermath of her death. If grief drives the narrative, then food is the balm.

Zauner crafts lush descriptions of Korean dishes throughout the book, and she eventually turns to cooking them as a way to remain connected to her mother and Korean culture. To remain connected to herself, Zauner turns to music, writing the successful album Psychopomp (2016) shortly after Chongmi’s death. A touching, full-circle moment comes as Zauner finishes a world tour in Seoul, her birthplace. “Dozens of kids left the venue with sleeves of vinyl held under their arms . . . my mother’s face on the cover, her hand reaching toward the camera. . . .”

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See works from NMWA’s collection

ELIZABETH LYNCH

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ALICIA GREGORY

The Tarot of Leonora Carrington The Tarot of Leonora Carrington (Fulgur Press, 2021) celebrates the famous Surrealist painter’s one-of-a-kind tarot deck for the Major Arcana, which she created after relocating from New York to Mexico in 1943.

Based on inscriptions on two of the cards, Carrington likely created the deck around 1955, but the exact date is unknown.

In the introduction, her son Gabriel Weisz Carrington describes childhood memories of watching his mother carefully create her twenty-two cards with paperboard and paint. The book includes beautiful reproductions of these cards, allowing the reader to appreciate the intricate details of each design. The publication features a substantial essay by art historians Susan Aberth and Tere Arcq, who connect Carrington’s interest in the tarot and the occult to her larger body of work and compare her symbology to that of other Surrealist artists, including Remedios Varo and Max Ernst. They also discuss similarities and differences between Carrington’s cards and the famous WaiteSmith and Marseilles decks.

With its stunning images and thought-provoking text, The Tarot of Leonora Carrington will delight iconologists and divination enthusiasts alike. //

ELLA JONES

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

Women in Abstraction •

Education Report 6

2021 GLAMi SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR

Pandemic Pivot PR E SEN T ED TO

BMA x NMWA Monthly Talk Show Baltimore Museum of Art and National Museum of Women in the Arts

SUMMER 2021

Presented at the MuseWeb Annual Conference, April 2021

And the award goes to . . .

What do you get when two art museums committed to celebrating women artists collaborate? The award-winning talk show BMA x NMWA! This collaboration between NMWA and the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) won a prestigious GLAMi (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums Innovation) award during the annual MuseWeb Conference.

A judges’ panel representing twenty countries recognized BMA x NMWA in the “Special Jury Prize: Pandemic Pivot” category, which honored programs “experimental in their approach, focused on connecting people to people, and ambitious and uniquely tailored to the moment.”

Developed and moderated

by NMWA Senior Educator Adrienne L. Gayoso and BMA Director of Interpretation Verónica E. Betancourt, Ph.D., the virtual program launched in July 2020. The live-streamed talk show has explored timely themes with cross-institutional relevance like “Power,” “Memory,” and “Counterstory.”

Episodes featured guests including Paper Routes artists Oasa DuVerney and Hyeyoung Shin, collection artists Rania Matar and Delita Martin, and curators.

If you missed the livestreams of these programs, look for recordings on NMWA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Going the Distance This spring, virtual platforms provided opportunities for the NMWA team to connect with far-flung educators and multigenerational audiences through art making. In March and April, we partnered with Art Educators of New Jersey (AENJ) to present a mini-series A collage by Serena Elliott, a participant in the “Create a Personal Flag” workshop in May; Courtesy of Miranda Elliott

of online, hands-on workshops that welcomed educators from California, Connecticut, and New Jersey in addition to those from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Sessions explored the interplay of self and social structures, especially personal history and dreams for the future. New Jersey art teacher Tenley Escoffery taught book formats, while NMWA educators facilitated conversations about collection works. Participants relished learning about inspiring women artists and praised the workshop content and organization. One teacher said, “Awesome workshop! This year I really miss the connection with other art educators. This was a great space to share and connect and learn.”

We have long offered hands-on workshops in conjunction with exhibitions, and our first virtual version took place in May, when we invited participants ages fourteen and up to explore Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend through art making. Presented in partnership with Project

Create, a D.C.-based organization that provides accessible, multidisciplinary arts education to empower young people, “Create a Personal Flag” attracted makers from the metro area as well as California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

Following an introduction to the exhibition and Sonya Clark’s flag imagery, teaching artist Evie Tobias guided makers through the planning and creation of an original work of art. Tobias shared her own technique of paper collage on canvas, which she adapted for this project. As the two-hour workshop concluded, the twenty participants eagerly shared their flags, displaying personal collages made from materials including magazine pages, fabric, dried beans and rice, and keepsakes.

Said one, “Evie was great and very motivational. . . . After seeing [Clark’s] installation I’m much more excited to visit the museum and see it in person.”

Dedicated Donor 7

MARCIA MYERS CARLUCCI

AS WE PREPARE TO CLOSE

the museum’s historic building temporarily for needed refurbishments, we look with excitement toward the future. Marcia Myers Carlucci, Building Chair of NMWA’s Board of Trustees, has played an integral role in the museum’s renovation plans.

Carlucci’s insight into the planning process provides good reason for enthusiasm.

“We knew that this beautiful building was going to need restoration. We did not step into this campaign lightly.

It has been the work of the board and staff for five to seven years, and we took each step with great deliberation.”

She notes that the campaign leadership has already raised $50 million toward the project, surpassing expectations and setting up the museum for success. Carlucci says, “I have total confidence that this

Following the museum’s planned renovation, “I have total confidence that this magnificent structure will last well into the next century.”

magnificent structure will last well into the next century and will allow us to continue to share works of art with millions around the country and the globe.”

Carlucci has been a supporter of the museum for more than twenty years, and she has served on the Board since 2008. She has long been inspired by visionary women leaders including Founder Wilhelmina “Billie” Cole Holladay. As she describes, “Many years before I got involved with the museum, I had the good fortune of meeting Catherine Filene Shouse, who at the age of seventy-five was instrumental in the creation of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. She was a woman of bold vision, she was determined, and she had an ardent love of art. When I was introduced to Billie Holladay, likewise, I signed up to follow her anywhere. She was the same kind of woman, and she had a mission that I adored.”

Long before the renovation was planned, Carlucci took part in some of the museum’s biggest initiatives. She co-chaired the 2003 Spring Gala, in honor of the exhibition An Imperial Collection: Women Artists from the State Hermitage Museum, which showcased works from the famed St. Petersburg museum that NMWA rediscovered and restored. She also helped with the inaugural installation of the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, featuring colorful, larger-than-life sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle. She says, “We saw people walking up and down

New York Avenue and taking pictures of this wonderful art, which we were sharing not only inside the walls, but with the larger community outside.”

From the Sculpture Project to online education programs— she supported the NMWA @ Home initiative at the onset of the pandemic—Carlucci sees NMWA as a vital part of a broad community, in the D.C. area, online, and as an international leader. She points to programs such as the Virtual Educator Summer Camp and initiatives of our network of national and international outreach committees as a critical reminder that “although we will be closing the building, we will not be closing the museum. This project will set the stage for a new and thrilling phase of the museum’s history.”

NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling says, “Marcia Carlucci has been a wonderful asset to our museum for decades. She supports our most ambitious projects, and this top-to-bottom renovation is no exception—we are grateful for her generosity and leadership.”

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

PHOTO BY ALISON TREMBLAY/WASHINGTON PHOTO

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The renovation will help NMWA display more art in the collection and exhibition galleries; Rendering by Sandra Vicchio & Associates, LLC, with Marshall Craft Associates, Inc.

Space to Soar

Renovating the Museum’s Historic Building

Winton Smoot Holladay

In recent years, we have shared several momentous updates about NMWA’s historic building. We have kept members abreast of the development of a preservation plan by architect Sandra Vicchio and the work that is necessary for ongoing stewardship of our building.

Now, I am pleased to join with the Board of Trustees and NMWA leadership in announcing our top-to-bottom renovation, which will rejuvenate our landmark building for an exciting future.

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After a celebratory week of programs and extended hours in early August, the building will close to the public on August 9 to begin extensive refurbishments. When we welcome visitors for a reopening celebration in fall 2023, you will find that we have preserved and refreshed the museum’s iconic and awe-inspiring spaces. Critical updates to the building’s infrastructure will transform your experience and heighten our impact. During the closure, we will continue the museum’s exhibitions and programming off-site and online—our work for women in the arts will never pause.

SUMMER 2021

Living in a Landmark Designed by the architecture firm Wood, Donn & Deming, the historic 1908 building was constructed as a Masonic Temple.

The Classical Revival-style, 78,810-square-foot main building at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, is listed on the DC Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places.

NMWA Founders Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay purchased the structure in 1983 and began its transformation into a museum. They saw that the building had panache and potential—impressive rooms for events and performances, space for a Library and Research Center to foster scholarship, and wonderful areas for art galleries.

NMWA opened to the public in our building in April 1987, and it is amazing to think of all that has taken place inside these walls in the last thirty-four years. The structure has seen wonderful exhibitions, gatherings, and encounters with art. However, it has also sustained wear from use and damage from the elements, and, like any older building, its infrastructure has lagged behind technological advances.

As you likely know, my mother-in-law, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, passed away in March at age ninety-eight. At this time, we renew our commitment to this unique institution—still the only major museum in the world dedicated to women in the arts—and to carrying forward her visionary legacy. The difficulties of the pandemic have underscored the meaningful role of our building. It is a beacon for the museum’s mission as well as a space for life-changing encounters with art and artists. We are galvanized by the transformative possibilities of this renewal.

Top-to-Bottom Renovation Now is the time for this renovation. With Sandra Vicchio and a talented group of additional partners in engineering and design, we have planned this project’s minutest details to ensure that it is an investment in the museum’s future. Vicchio, principal architect of her firm, has more than twenty-five years of preservation experience. She has worked on historic structures such as the Pratt Library and Washington Monument in Baltimore, and she has led us in

Updates will transform your experience and heighten our museum’s impact.

Above: The top-to-bottom project will rejuvenate spaces including the entrance lobby, rotunda, and grand staircase; Rendering by Sandra Vicchio & Associates, LLC, with Marshall Craft Associates, Inc.

generation of artists will be able to learn and make art. In the museum’s existing galleries, redesigned spaces will better accommodate large-scale and multimedia installations.

– Expanded Public Spaces: The renovation will allow us to put more art on display and welcome visitors to fresh programs in purpose-built spaces. A new Learning Commons

– Enhancing the Visitor Experience: Museum visitors will notice changes from the moment they set foot in the building.

A spacious new entrance foyer will welcome guests to NMWA. Next, a new orientation gallery and improved wayfinding will share the museum’s history and mission, then point to the art and programs. Visitors will find improved and ADAaccessible features throughout the building—clearer signage, easier navigation, and enhanced amenities. Improvements

space, visitors will be able to see more works of art, scholars will be welcomed to new study spaces, and the next

changes will advance NMWA’s commitment to making the museum a more accessible and inclusive space for all.

on the fourth floor will feature a major exhibition gallery,

state-of-the-art Library and Research Center, and flexible education studio for hands-on workshops. Within this

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to technology will help us reach our online visitors, too, by bolstering the streaming and interactive infrastructure that help us to serve as a flagship for women in the arts. These

New public spaces will include a purpose-built education studio for hands-on art workshops; Rendering by Sandra Vicchio & Associates, LLC, with Marshall Craft Associates, Inc.

The Library and Research Center’s reading room will be redesigned to better accommodate visitors, scholars, and students (concept sketch); Rendering by Sandra Vicchio & Associates, LLC, with Marshall Craft Associates, Inc.

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

developing plans that will make our museum’s building more versatile, restoring NMWA’s home as a worthy complement to our mission.

Key features of our plan include expanded public spaces, enhancements to visitor amenities and accessibility, and improvements to infrastructure that will benefit our environmental footprint and help us care for our collection of more than 5,500 works of art by women.

The project will improve wayfinding throughout the building, beginning with the entry lobby (concept sketch); Rendering by Sandra Vicchio & Associates, LLC, with Marshall Craft Associates, Inc.

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SUMMER 2021

– Improving Our Infrastructure: Updating the museum’s infrastructure reflects our responsible stewardship of both our art collection and our environmental footprint.

We will renew and reinforce the building envelope, install new lighting and climate systems to ensure the best environment for art on view, redesign the museum’s art storage and care spaces, and reorganize office and support spaces. Better wireless connections and technology in the galleries will enhance visitors’ learning opportunities.

These changes will allow us to store art more efficiently and care for works of art more effectively.

This top-to-bottom renovation affects every part of the physical museum. Because of our extensive plans, we must close the building to the public while the project is underway. Closing temporarily will help position the project for success and timely completion, so that we can welcome you back as soon as possible. As we continue our work off-site and online, we invite members and friends to follow our progress and stay connected.

Building the Future Our comprehensive building restoration is supported through “Space to Soar,” a $66 million capital campaign. Donors and friends have stepped forward already, helping us to raise $50 million toward our campaign goal.

The museum’s capital campaign is directed by a steering committee of NMWA trustees, advisors, and senior museum

staff. Building on the campaign’s robust beginnings, NMWA will continue to solicit leadership-level gifts as well as new five- and six-figure contributions in the coming months.

Individuals, foundations, corporations, and government entities will all play vital roles in the campaign’s success.

The museum has received both city and federal funding.

Our renovation is supported by a competitive federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (Museums for America Grant) as well as a first-ever 2020 Cultural Institutions grant from Events DC, a semi-public company supported by D.C. taxpayer funds.

We hope that you will join us in this effort! The museum’s website will show renderings, track project progress, and share ways to get involved. NMWA members will also be among the first to visit when the museum reopens—please stay involved over the coming months, and visit us online to learn more about our plans.

// Winton Smoot Holladay is Chair of the Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

VIRTUAL MUSEUM 2.0

Engaging Audiences Online and Off-site Over the past year, the museum’s digital programming flourished as the pandemic restricted in-person gatherings. We found innovative ways to connect with NMWA audiences at a distance, preparing us to head into the renovation with new ideas, skills, and enthusiasm.

While our building temporarily closes to the public, our work for women in the arts continues. As public health restrictions change over the coming months, we are planning a robust digital presence as well as in-person activities, reaching visitors here in Washington, D.C., and around the world.

Highlight Reel: Digital Programming Hits A partnership between the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and NMWA, the livestreamed BMA x NMWA monthly talk show featured special guests including artists Tschabalala Self, Rania Matar, and Hyeyoung Shin. BMA x NMWA was lauded with a 2021 MuseWeb GLAMi Award (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums Innovation) for innovation during the pandemic. While the series concluded in June 2021, the virtual talk show model will continue with NMWA educators and curators.

A popular weekly event, Art Chat @ Five features forty-five-minute informal chats about works from NMWA’s collection. The series has welcomed participants from across the U.S.—thirtyseven states and Washington,

D.C.—and five other countries: Canada, France, England, Scotland, and Portugal. Art Chats, as well as virtual field trips for students, Educator Summer Camps, and more, will continue over the coming months.

Fresh Talk, the museum’s much-loved public program series, has hosted several fully virtual talks—a spring highlight featured artist Sonya Clark during the exhibition Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend. Similarly, the Shenson Chamber Music Concerts went virtual for the first time in their twenty-three-year history.

Nearly 900 people have viewed the McDermott Trio’s concert from late March.

NMWA’s virtual International Women’s Day Celebration underscored the power of virtual events to bring together a group of incredible women at a distance. We presented a full day of sessions, with viewers tuning in from around the globe. The day featured special guest presentations

by Pita Lopez and Katrina Latka from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and an art-inspired cocktail class led

by AJ Johnson.

Access for All Digital programs level the playing field by welcoming wider audiences. As NMWA Director of Digital Engagement Laura Hoffman says, “People who don’t have the ability to visit in person are able to join in; cost barriers are reduced; and people needing visual assistance are accommodated

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During a livestreamed Fresh Talk in April, artist Sonya Clark discussed her work with Chief Curator/Deputy Director Kathryn Wat During a spring BMA x NMWA program, BMA Director of Interpretation Verónica Betancourt, NMWA Senior Educator Addie Gayoso, and guest artist Tschabalala Self talked about artworks including Faith Ringgold’s American Collection #4: Jo Baker’s Bananas (1997) from NMWA’s collection

through our efforts to meet web content accessibility standards.” A slate of popular programs will continue to celebrate and champion women artists with patrons new and old, near and far.

the month of March, but all year long. Join us—freshen your social media feed and champion women in the arts—by sharing your favorite #5WomenArtists and tagging us @WomenInTheArts.

#5WomenArtists #5WomenArtists, the museum’s award-winning social media advocacy campaign, expanded to a year-round, museum-wide initiative in 2021. The 2021 campaign encourages art institutions around the world to focus on women artists not just in

What’s Next?

Turn to the calendar on p. 14 or visit https://nmwa.org to find out what’s happening soon. It is an exciting time for the museum—stay connected!

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//

Calendar 14

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EXHIBITIONS

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Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend Through June 27, 2021

F

Free

M

Free for members

R

Reservation required at https://nmwa.org

Mary Ellen Mark: Girlhood Through August 8, 2021

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)

Her Flag Through July 12, 2021

Daily / Weekly / Monthly

KEY

Due to health concerns related to COVID-19, on-site programs including weekly lunchtime gallery talks have been temporarily suspended. Check our online calendar for the most up-to-date information.

Free Community Days FIRST AND THIRD SUNDAYS 12–5 P.M. // F M R

The first and third Sunday of each month, NMWA offers free admission to the public. Enjoy current exhibitions and the collection galleries. Please note: due to capacity restrictions, advance reservation of timed tickets is now required.

Reclamation: Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals Through December 31, 2021; Interactive online exhibition.

Julie Chen: True to Life Through June 30, 2021, in the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center; Check online for current visiting information.

Access online exhibitions at https://nmwa.org/whats-on/ exhibitions/online.

Art Chats @ Five MOST 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 exhibitions and collection. Capped at 45 participants; reserve online.

Below: Mary Ellen Mark, Emine Dressed Up for Republic Day, Trabzon, Turkey, 1965 (printed later); Gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 in.; NMWA, Gift of Frieder K. Hofmann; On view in Mary Ellen Mark: Girlhood

Curative Collective Conversations MONDAYS 12–1 P.M. // F M O E V

Part of the online exhibition Reclamation, these weekly online conversations engage Women, Arts, and Social Change partners working at the intersection of food, art, and social change.

The Tea FIRST FRIDAYS 12–1 P.M. // F M O V

First Fridays, women musicians perform original work via livestream on the museum’s social media channels.

Followed by a short interview over a cup of tea.

BMA x NMWA Monthly Talk Show SECOND TUESDAYS 12–12:45 P.M. // F M O E V

Join educators from NMWA and the Baltimore Museum of Art as they talk about art, sometimes with artists and other special guests, in this lunchtime program.

Collection Highlights Talks SECOND WEDNESDAY AND FOURTH SATURDAY 5:30–6:30 P.M. / 1–2 P.M. // F M R V

© MARY ELLEN MARK/THE MARY ELLEN MARK FOUNDATION

SUMMER 2021

During these interactive, docent-led virtual talks, look closely and discuss artworks from the museum’s collection. Join as often as you like—tour content varies.

June 6 / 14

Curative Collective Conversation: Comida Casera Project

MON

12–1 P.M. // F M O E V

6 / 18

Art Chat @ Five

FRI

6 / 20 SUN

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R E V

Free Community Day 12–5 P.M. // F M R

Visit https://nmwa.org for reservations, a complete calendar of events, and more information.

7 / 14 WED

7 / 16 FRI

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

7 / 21 WED

7 / 23 FRI

7 / 24 SAT

7 / 26

1–2 P.M. // F M R V MON

7 / 28

12–1 P.M. // F M O E V WED

7 / 28

July 7/2 FRI

7/4 SUN

7/9 FRI

7 / 12 MON

Art Chat @ Five

12–5 P.M. // F M R

5–5:45 P.M.

//

WED

7 / 30

FMRV

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Fierce Women 10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Wicked Arts Assignments with Melissa Bremmer and Emiel Heijnen 10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Flag Books with Sarah Matthews 10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Collection Highlights Talk 1–2 P.M. // F M R V

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Pop-Up Architecture with Carol Barton 10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Tunnel Books with Julie Chen 10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Virtual Happy Hour: Judith Leyster Birthday Celebration 5:30–6:30 P.M. // F M R V

Join us to celebrate the birthday of painter Judith Leyster! We will make a specialty cocktail in honor of Leyster (1609–1660), share art and stories, and explore the collection and archives.

Free Community Day

Camp takes place over nine online sessions throughout July; participants may register for individual events (topics include bookmaking, easy art-making at home, women artists, and more). These fun, hands-on, participatory sessions are for anyone who identifies as an educator. Registrants receive a recommended supply list, digital resources, and a meeting link in advance.

7 / 14

WED

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

Art Chat @ Five

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Long-Stitch Bookbinding with Jamila Felton

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

MON

10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Art Chat @ Five

Art Chat @ Five

Curative Collective Conversation: Djassi DaCosta Johnson

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Natural Bundle Dyeing with Maggie Pate

FRI

FRI

6 / 28

12–5 P.M. // F M R

7 / 23

6 / 25

Collection Highlights Talk

Free Community Day

FRI

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: #5WomenArtists Trivia 10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

7 / 30

Art Chat @ Five

FRI

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

August 8 / 1–8 /8

Special Closing Week Celebration Enjoy one last look at NMWA’s collection before the museum closes for renovation! Join us for free admission all week long, extended hours, fun giveaways for members, a first look at exciting renovation plans, and more. Please note: Timed tickets required for admission.

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© SONYA CLARK; PHOTO BY TAYLOR DABNEY

MON

SAT

10–11:30 A.M. // F M R V

Art Chat @ Five

7 / 19

6 / 26

Virtual Educator Summer Camp: Alphabet Books with Priya Pereira

FRI

SUN

15

5:30–6:30 P.M. // F M R V

7 / 16

7 / 18

Sonya Clark, Esther Mahlangu’s Touch, 2015; Glass beads, 16 x 16 in.; On loan from the artist; On view in Sonya Clark: Tatter, Bristle, and Mend

Collection Highlights Talk

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8 / 12 THU

Virtual Happy Hour: Margaret Tafoya Birthday Celebration 5:30–6:30 P.M. // F M R V

© MARGARET TAFOYA

Join us to celebrate the birthday of potter Margaret Tafoya! We will make a specialty cocktail in honor of Tafoya (1904–2001), share art and stories, and explore the collection and archives.

8 / 13

Art Chat @ Five

FRI

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

8 / 20

Art Chat @ Five

FRI

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

8 / 27

Art Chat @ Five

FRI

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

8 / 28 SAT

Margaret Tafoya, Jar, ca. 1965; Blackware, 17 x 13 in.; NMWA, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay; Celebrate the artist during a happy hour on August 12

F

Free

E

Exhibition-related program

M

Free for members

V

R

Reservation required at https://nmwa.org

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

O

No reservations required

9/3 FRI

9 / 10 FRI

9 / 17

9 / 22

Free Community Day / Extended Hours

SUN

12–8 P.M. // F M R

8/2

Closing Week Extended Hours

MON

5–8 P.M. // F M R

8/3

Closing Week Extended Hours

TUE

5–8 P.M. // F M R

8/4

Closing Week Extended Hours

WED

5–8 P.M. // F M R

8/4

Virtual Closure Celebration

WED

6–7 P.M. // F M R V

Join NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling for a live virtual event exploring the museum’s renovation plans.

Streaming at https://nmwa.org/livestream, this program offers a sneak peek at plans for the renewed building and museum engagement during the building closure.

8/5

Members Only Closing Week Extended Hours

THU

5–8 P.M. // M R

8/6

Members Only Closing Week Extended Hours

SUMMER 2021

FRI

5–8 P.M. // M R

8/6

Art Chat @ Five

FRI

5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

8 / 11 WED

Collection Highlights Talk 5:30–6:30 P.M. // F M R V

1–2 P.M. // F M R V

September

FRI

8/1

Collection Highlights Talk

WED

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

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

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

Virtual Happy Hour: Celebrating Mary Vaux Walcott 5:30–6:30 P.M. // F M R V

Join us to celebrate the life and work of Mary Vaux Walcott! We will make a specialty cocktail in honor of Walcott (1860–1940), share art and stories, and explore the collection and archives.

9 / 24 FRI

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

// Special thanks to Ourisman Automotive of Virginia for supporting free admission and events throughout NMWA’s closing week.

Education programming is made possible by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, with additional support provided by the Leo Rosner Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, and Morgan Stanley. Additional funding is provided by the Harriet E. McNamee Youth Education Fund, William and Christine Leahy, and the Sylvan C. Coleman Trust.

The Women, Arts, and Social Change public programs initiative is made possible through leadership gifts from Denise Littlefield Sobel, the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family, and the Susan and Jim Swartz Public Programs Fund. Additional funding is provided by the Bernstein Family Foundation. This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Marilyn Artus, Her Flag (installation view and detail), 2020; UV-grade polyester, 18 x 26 ft.; Courtesy of the artist

Artus, who is based in Oklahoma, released an open call and reached out to artists and arts organizations in each of the

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thirty-six states. She received more than 340 submissions

and selected the participants with assistance from a panel of

PHOTO BY SHEVAUN WILLIAMS

arts professionals. Each participating artist created imagery

inspired by both the anniversary and her home state. Artus then adapted each artwork into a stripe on the flag.

The multiyear project included a road trip to the capitals

of each participating state, in the order that they ratified

the amendment. During each visit, Artus sewed that state’s

stripe to the flag. However, when the coronavirus pandemic

halted her travel plans after the twenty-fifth stop, she began

live-streaming the addition of each stripe. Now complete, the 18-x-26-foot flag is displayed at NMWA through July 12.

The artists represent diverse ages and ethnicities, and

they explored a variety of subjects. Many depicted notable

women from the suffrage and civil rights movements.

Others created scenes that reference the fact that the 19th

Amendment did not ensure access to the ballot box for all

women. Struggles faced by Native American, Asian American,

Her Flag

Latinx, and African American women lasted well beyond 1920,

and some continue today. Several stripes portray contempo-

rary women and girls, highlighting the legacy of the suffrage

movement in today’s social justice activism. “Reflecting

June 9–July 12, 2021

upon this milestone gives us an opportunity to remember

Virginia Treanor

always continue to seek equity and equality,” says Artus.

that partial progress is not total progress and that we must // Virginia Treanor is the associate curator at the National Museum

of Women in the Arts.

Join Us! Treanor moderates a virtual conversation (June 16 at 1:30 p.m.) on women’s suffrage and the continued fight for voting rights, particularly in D.C. Guests include Artus, Her Flag contributing artists Higgins Bond and Nicole LaRue, and Stasha Rhodes, campaign director of 51 for 51.

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To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, NMWA has partnered with Her Flag, a nationwide art and travel project led by artist Marilyn Artus. Artus collaborated with a group of contemporary women artists—one from each of the thirtysix states that ratified the 19th Amendment by 1920—to create the large flag installed on the museum’s façade along New York Avenue.

The presentation of Her Flag at the National Museum of Women in the Arts is made possible by MaryRoss Taylor, with additional support provided by the members of NMWA.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

Rania Matar

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// Orin Zahra

© RANIA MATAR

SUMMER 2021

In 2019, NMWA presented the exhibition Live Dangerously, featuring photographs that portray and celebrate women in the natural world. Three works by Rania Matar (b. 1964, Lebanon) were on loan to the exhibition. These large-scale photographs, from her ongoing series “SHE” (2017–present), depict women in their early twenties in lush, colorful, textured landscapes in the United States and the Middle East.

Through generous gifts from museum benefactors in consultation with NMWA curators, all three photographs

are now part of the museum’s collection. The purchase of Rayven, Miami Beach, Florida (2019) was made possible through the support of Sunny Scully Alsup and Elva FerrariGraham, two members of the NMWA Advisory Board. Yara, Cairo, Egypt (2019) and Lea #1 Beirut, Lebanon (2019) were purchased with funds donated by the Heather and Robert Keane Family Foundation. Heather Keane, a museum supporter and avid admirer of Matar’s art, learned of this effort through longtime patron Belinda de Gaudemar. These three acquisitions are testament to the networks of collectors,

Matar’s personal trajectory from Beirut to Boston has shaped her identity and palpably informs her art.

patrons, and artists who continue to help the museum build and enrich its collection.

SHE The Lebanese Palestinian American artist, born and raised in Beirut, is now based in the U.S. Matar’s personal trajectory from Beirut to Boston has shaped her identity and palpably informs her art. When Matar embarked on “SHE,” her daughters had left home to attend university and enter the workforce, leading the artist to pose questions about how women face societal expectations. Unlike her earlier series, which showed teenage girls in

Rania Matar, Lea #1, Beirut, Lebanon, from the series “SHE,” 2019; Archival pigment print, 37 x 44 in.; NMWA, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Heather and Robert Keane Family Foundation

Rania Matar, Yara, Cairo, Egypt, from the series “SHE,” 2019; Archival pigment print, 44 x 37 in.; NMWA, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by the Heather and Robert Keane Family Foundation

© RANIA MATAR

not personally experience the war but have grown up with its collective memory.

Matar at NMWA Matar’s work has been featured at the museum in Live Dangerously as well as the 2016 exhibition She Who Tells A Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World.

Over the years, Matar has also participated in virtual and

in-person public programming with enthusiastic response from the museum’s audiences. The photographs from “SHE” mark the first works by the artist to enter the collection, augmenting the museum’s holdings of contemporary photography and work by artists from the Middle East and its diasporas.

Of these recent acquisitions, Matar states, “I am immensely honored that the three photographs became part of the permanent collection of a museum that celebrates women. This work is by a woman and about women, about their majestic

beauty, their strength, their power, their vulnerability, their voice, all at once, and I cannot think of a better home for them.” // Orin Zahra is the assistant curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Text is adapted from the author’s essay “Wanderesses” for the forthcoming book Rania Matar: SHE (Radius Books, 2021).

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their rooms, the images in “SHE” reveal a more fully realized physicality. As her subjects mature, the women form complex relationships with environments outside the familiarity of their childhood homes.

Matar’s figures are agents of creation: as sentient, selffashioning individuals, they construct their own identities in collaboration with the artist. In Yara, the young woman stands partially concealed in the crevasses of a banyan tree.

Matar had noticed that Yara’s long limbs fit in total harmony with the trunk’s vertical shoots.

Originally dressed in long sleeves, Yara changed into a sleeveless garment from her own wardrobe to emphasize the relationship between her body and the curvilinear branches.

Matar recalls, “It was as [though] she became one with the tree on her own.”

Owing to her initial training as an architect, Matar is acutely perceptive of the character of a place, teasing out its unique qualities in her sensitive portraits. Lea #1 was photographed at La Maison Rose, a dilapidated nineteenth-century mansion in Beirut, abandoned since the Lebanese Civil War (1975–90). Lea stands in an exterior passageway overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Dirt and grime cover the ground, cracks in the walls reveal their material foundations underneath, and the once-pristine coral balustrade hints at the paint color to which the landmark owes its name. Signs of neglect and decay throughout the composition contribute to the photograph’s melancholic beauty. For Matar, this image is a symbol of a new generation—young people who did

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© THE MILDRED THOMPSON ESTATE; COURTESY GALERIE LELONG & CO., NEW YORK; PHOTO BY LEE STALSWORTH

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Built to Order The Constructed World in the Museum’s Collection

SUMMER 2021

Hannah Shambroom

Architecture and human-built spaces have long inspired art. NMWA’s collection—more than 5,500 works of art created from the sixteenth century to the present—features numerous works in which artists investigate structures and sites that people build for themselves. On the museum’s third floor, thematically arranged galleries spark

connections across artistic styles, time periods, and subjects. Themes include nature, identity, and gender inequality. This summer, however, visitors thinking of the museum’s upcoming renovation may be especially curious about the “Built to Order” gallery, which features selected works that evoke constructed spaces.

On August 9, the museum’s building temporarily closes for renovations, as NMWA’s space itself is reimagined for the future.

In the meantime, visitors will have a chance to see these works and many other favorites from the collection on site—join us!

with the environment. Old, worn-out tires that are recycled

symbolize opposing energies that are being resolved into new works of beauty.”

Mildred Thompson (1936–2003) created abstract paintings, assemblages, sculptures, drawings, and prints that are characterized by sharp attention to color, composition, and line. Thompson received formal artistic training at Howard University in Washington, D.C.; the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine; and the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York. Early in her career, she began to develop a figurative artistic style. In the 1960s, Thompson

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Opposite: Mildred Thompson, Untitled (Wood Picture), ca. 1970s; Wood, 42 x 36 in.; NMWA, Gift of Camille Ann Brewer in honor and memory of Mildred Thompson

Right: Visitors in the “Built to Order” collection gallery on a Free Community Day admire Chakaia Booker’s Acid Rain (2001) and nearby works

PHOTO BY KEVIN ALLEN

Sculptural Structures Women artists working in large-scale sculpture—which often combines feats of engineering and physical exertion—upend gender assumptions while constructing complex forms.

Chakaia Booker (b. 1953) integrates discarded rubber tires and tubing into monumental works that address industrialization, consumer culture, and environmental concerns.

For Acid Rain (2001), Booker sliced, twisted, stripped, wove, and riveted her found material into an expressive tableau.

From obtaining the tires to cutting and reshaping them, her work is intensely laborious. Acid Rain weighs over 2,000 pounds, and it is formed from twelve wall-mounted sections that join seamlessly. To design a sculpture of this size, Booker meticulously plans the work using digital software and detailed models.

The subtle differences in the tires’ textures, shades, and patterned treads highlight their past use. By recycling discarded rubber (which she often sources from construction sites), Booker salvages materials that might otherwise deteriorate in landfill. She says, “Acid Rain symbolizes both the destruction and the creative possibilities of our interaction

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The artists whose work is on view in this gallery consider the environment, societies, structures, and materials. They examine spaces and viewpoints that often go unnoticed.

Sculptors explore the expressive potential of natural materials such as wood, as well as the environmental implications of using recycled objects like rubber tires. Photographers offer fresh perspectives on public and private spaces. Through dynamic brushstrokes and geometric motifs, painters signify the environments they occupy.

PHOTO BY KEVIN ALLEN

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SUMMER 2021

struggled to find artistic acceptance or critical attention in the United States due to prevalent sexism and racism. She moved to Europe, where she began to explore abstraction.

Untitled (Wood Picture) (ca. 1970s) is an example of Thompson’s “wood pictures,” her first series of nonrepresentational sculptural works. With segments of salvaged wood, she constructed a geometric, rectangular structure. While Thompson’s paintings are known for their vibrant hues, in this work she chose to leave the wood unpainted, allowing its natural grain, knots, and gaps to propel the composition. The sharp, linear edges of the cut planks contrast with the soft curves of the wood’s grain. Her imposition of structural rigidity on organic, asymmetrical patterns demonstrates how human intervention can completely transform a natural material.

Hiding Places Photographers use scale and framing to reveal surprising perspectives on familiar environments—both the public structures that help us live communally and the private spaces we create for ourselves. Twin sisters and collaborators Jane Wilson and Louise Wilson (b. 1967) make haunting video installations and photographs of abandoned architectural sites, particularly those of institutional power. Silo: Gamma (1999) documents a deserted military silo at Greenham Common, a former Royal Air Force station in Berkshire, England, where nuclear weapons were once stored. Formerly a site exuding

military strength, the scene captured by the artists offers a different perspective—one of decay and abandonment. The glowing, empty interior beckons eerily, highlighting the sense of trespassing, while the overgrown weeds act as a reminder that the structure has been long neglected. The high walls and industrial forms call into question how spaces reflect and shape human activities.

Angela Strassheim (b. 1969) meticulously stages scenes of daily life, often set in the suburbs of the American Midwest, where she grew up. Through these invented scenarios she investigates childhood, domesticity, and family relationships. In Untitled (Fort) (2006) a young blond girl peers out of a gap in a fort created from her bedsheets. The light inside her hiding spot illuminates her face, while the rest of her room—decorated with stuffed animals, a butterfly kite, and a feather boa—is cast in a purple glow. She peers out at the viewer from within a sanctuary of her own making, defending the privacy of her space.

Paint the Town In the 1960s and ’70s, many painters expanded on the techniques of abstraction that had been popularized in the previous decades, using gestural brushstrokes and repeating geometric forms to depict landscapes or architecture. Lee Krasner (1908–1984), a leader of Abstract Expressionism, created large-scale paintings, drawings, and collages characterized

by expressive brushwork and color. In the 1960s, nature became an immersive theme of her work. The Springs (1964) features hues of green and beige; its arcing lines and interlaced forms are reminiscent of a wind-blown landscape. The title of the painting refers to Springs, New York, the village in the Hamptons where Krasner and her husband, artist Jackson Pollock, lived and worked.

As part of the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s, Valerie Jaudon (b. 1945) challenged the view that decorative and craft-based art, often associated with women’s

artistic production, lacked the sophistication of other art forms. With geometric motifs of intersecting circles, lines, and angles, she creates intricate compositions that are reminiscent of the patterns found in Islamic, Byzantine, and Celtic art. Jaudon’s approach to abstraction reflects her fascination with systems and interest in using simple elements to create visual complexity. In Avalon (1976), she overlays geometric forms, painted in a deep silver ground from aluminum

pigment, ivory black oil paint, and cold-pressed linseed oil, onto horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and circular grids. The multi-tiered grid system and symmetrical pattern evoke architecture, calligraphy, and hieroglyphs. Jaudon often titled her paintings for cities and towns in her home state of Mississippi (Avalon is an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Mississippi, known as the birthplace of African American blues musician John Hurt).

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Making Space The artists represented in “Built to Order” explore the natural world and the spaces that people have carved out for themselves within it. These artists construct environments of their own making, reflecting familiar and unfamiliar vantage points and revealing our power to shape the world around us. // Hannah Shambroom is the exhibition coordinator at the National

Museum of Women in the Arts.

Opposite: A visitor enjoys architectural motifs and materials in the “Built to Order” gallery, with Dorothy Dehner’s Upright Keyboard #1 (1979) in the foreground and Valerie Jaudon’s painting Avalon (1976) behind

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© ANGELA STRASSHEIM ; PHOTO BY LEE STALSWORTH

Right: Angela Strassheim, Untitled (Fort), 2006; Chromogenic color print, 40 x 50 in.; NMWA, Gift of Heather and Tony Podesta Collection

COLLECTION ON THE MOVE

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Alice Neel, T.B. Harlem, 1940; Oil on canvas, 30 x 30 in.; NMWA, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay

Alice Neel Virginia Treanor

SUMMER 2021

“Neel often invoked the title of Honoré de Balzac’s compendium of writings, The Human Comedy, which examines the causes and effects of human action on nineteenth-century French society. [In] twentieth-century New York, Neel sought to bring Balzac’s spirit to bear on her own historical moment, documenting episodes of suffering and loss, but also strength and endurance, with unsparing candor and acute empathy.”

T.B. Harlem The painting depicts Carlos Santiago Negrón, the brother of José Santiago Negrón, who was the father of Neel’s third child and a Puerto Rican musician.

Carlos is portrayed recuperating from thoracoplasty, a

© ESTATE OF ALICE NEEL/COURTESY OF DAVID ZWIRNER, NEW YORK

In a gallery titled “The Human Comedy,” in the exhibition Alice Neel: People Come First at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a painting on loan from the NMWA collection, Neel’s T.B. Harlem (1940). The exhibition’s title comes from a quote by Neel (1900–1984), an artist who dedicated herself to the depiction of individuals, saying, “I have tried to assert the dignity and eternal importance of the human being.” Her commitment to portraying all aspects of humanity—frailty as well as strength—is distilled in this gallery, where T.B. Harlem hangs near a portrait of Neel’s dying mother, her candid portrait of a half-nude Andy Warhol, and the sardonically titled Well Baby Clinic, among other emotionally charged works. The exhibition text notes,

painful tuberculosis treatment used at the time to collapse and “rest” the infected lung by removing ribs. Only twentyfour at the time of the painting, Carlos survived the procedure. While tuberculosis was a widespread disease in the nineteenth century, by the twentieth it disproportionately affected working-class communities of color, particularly in cities. At the time, Neel was living in Spanish Harlem, a culturally rich area with a growing Puerto Rican population, but where living conditions were often close and buildings lacked critical infrastructure, leading to unhygienic circumstances.

The suffering Carlos, depicted

by Neel in dark, somber colors, has been likened to a martyr, due to his personal travails and

the symbolism of his pose. His hand gestures to his wound, a common iconographical device in Renaissance religious imagery, recalling the resurrected Christ displaying the spear gash in his side. Neel’s work is peppered with such purposeful art historical references.

Were she alive today, Neel would undoubtedly be an activist, as she was during her lifetime, for members of marginalized communities whom the wheels of capitalism often crush. Through her art, Neel captured the pathos of her sitters using unblended brushstrokes and expressive colors.

She painted portraits at a time when abstraction reigned, and only in recent years has gained wider recognition for her impact on twentieth-century art. This

exhibition rightly claims Neel as one of the most radical painters of her time. // Virginia Treanor is the associate curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

See Art on Loan from NMWA’s Collection Alice Neel: People Come First is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City (through August 1, 2021); Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain (September 17, 2021–January 23, 2022); and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (March 12–July 10, 2022).

Committee News Additionally, our recently established Arizona Committee and Canada Committee continue to strengthen connections and grow their membership ranks. Both of these groups are enthusiastic about representing communities and institutions throughout their regions.

PROGRAM PUBLISHED BY THE CHILEAN MINISTRY OF CULTURES, ARTS, AND HERITAGE

The Chile Committee enjoyed a virtual coffee program about their monument contest, a partner program: La Moneda Cultural Center Director Beatriz Bustos, Museum of Visual Arts Director María Irene Alcalde, artist Bernardo Oyarzún, Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts Director Fernando Pérez, Chilean Academy of Fine Arts President Silvia Westermann, and moderator Gonzalo Sánchez Serrano

PHOTO BY COLLEEN MEANS

25

Paper Routes—Women to Watch 2020 artist Joli Livaudais installs her work at the South Arkansas Arts Center in March 2021, as part of the Arkansas Committee’s traveling exhibition

Promoting Regional Women Artists Online and Offline We at NMWA are continually inspired by the ways that our committees advocate for women artists in their regions.

This sample of recent programs demonstrates our committees’ creativity and drive to champion women far beyond the museum’s walls: – The Arkansas Committee organized a traveling exhibition of work by the state’s nominated artists for Paper Routes—Women to Watch 2020. The Arkansas exhibition continues its tour of five venues across the state, scheduled to last into 2022.

– El Capítulo Chileno del NMWA (Chile Committee), in alliance with the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity; together with the Ministry of Cultures, Arts, and Heritage; Illustrious Municipality of Santiago; and the Confederation of Production and Commerce, organized a sculpture contest for a public monument in tribute to the women of Chile, to be installed in Santiago in 2022.

– Les Amis du NMWA (France Committee) is partnering with curatorial platform SOME OF US to publish a book about the underrepresentation of women artists in France.

– The Georgia Committee held a virtual Fresh Talk with

Atlanta-based artist, activist, and public speaker Yehimi Cambrón and professionals in migration and immigration law.

– The Massachusetts Committee organized a private virtual visit to the 45th annual Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, which showcases floral arrangements alongside collection artworks.

– Committees such as the New Mexico Committee, San Francisco Advocacy for NMWA, and U.K. Friends of NMWA continued strong series of virtual artist talks, studio visits, curator conversations, and exhibition tours for their members.

Preparing for Women to Watch 2024 With support from NMWA, all of the museum’s committees are in the process of confirming consulting curators who will propose shortlists of artists from their respective regions to be considered for inclusion in the next Women to Watch exhibition. Committees are also engaging with local galleries and museums to plan regional programs related to Women to Watch 2024, which will be one of the first exhibitions in NMWA’s newly renovated galleries.

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

Below: Behind the scenes of the Georgia Committee’s virtual program with artist Yehimi Cambrón, videographer Katie Hawkins, and production director Cory Locatelli

PHOTO BY SARA STEINFELD

New Committees: Expanding Our Mission NMWA is proud to announce the addition of four new outreach committees, bringing the museum to twenty-seven outreach committees worldwide: fifteen based in the U.S. and twelve in other countries.

Joining our global advocacy for women in the arts, we warmly welcome the Colorado Committee, the India Committee, the Japan Committee, and the Wyoming Committee!

Museum News NMWA is Open Please plan to visit before the building closes temporarily for renovation on August 9. Enjoy our pre-renovation extended hours and a chance to see your favorite works in person! Visit https://nmwa.org to reserve your timed ticket.

While we are restoring the building, though, our mission— and your wonderful benefits— continue without interruption.

You will enjoy programming designed to keep you connected to the art and women artists you champion as a NMWA member.

– Member discounts on programs – Members-only in-person and online events – Quarterly subscription to Women in the Arts magazine—one extra issue each year!

– Exclusive content through member e-news – Member discounts at the Museum Shop online – Member preview day and programs during a special off-site exhibition – Reciprocal membership benefits at many outstanding museums nationwide for Friend-level members and above Stay in the Know The museum sends member invitations and updates about programs, the renovation project, and exhibitions by email.

To receive these notifications, please sign up for member communications online at https://nmwa.org/signup or contact the membership office at 866-875-4627 or member@nmwa.org.

PHOTO BY SANCHA MCBURNIE

26

Visit before August 9 to see your favorite works on view at NMWA

Member News Supporting Her Legacy: In Memory of Wilhelmina Cole Holladay (1922–2021) The Holladay family, Board, and staff of the museum are profoundly grateful for the outpouring of thoughtful messages, remembrances, and contributions in memory of our founder, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay.

Thank you for these wonderful gifts, which will carry her vision forward and support our work on behalf of women artists.

Benson, Margaret Bersch, Sandra J. Blake, Elizabeth S. Blake, Leslie D. Blanton, Elaine Blaylock, Gay S. Block, Ann and Robert S. Boh, Dare J. Boles, Kathy Bordwell, Louise I. Borke, Prilla S. Brackett, Barbara J. Bragonier, Leonie M. Brinkema, Pamela Broberg, Laura Brouse-Long, Sarah E. Brown, Charlotte Faith Brown, Margaret P. Brown, Chris Bruch, L. M. Bucciarelli, Joyce Kelly Buni, Kathleen Burns, Elyse Buxbaum, Kirsten Byerts, Caron Cadle, Buffy Cafritz, Jan S.

PHOTO © MICHELE MAT TEI

SUMMER 2021

Carr, Mary C. Carraher, Linda

Gifts in Memory of Wilhelmina Cole Holladay*

Carroll, Deborah Carstens, Shelley

Anonymous (4), Pat Abell, Priscilla

Chayama, Sandra B. Childers, Susan

Andre-Colton, Colleen Andrews,

Chorpenning, Charlotte

Katherine Arens, Jessica Arnold,

Choumenkovitch, Elena D. Ciletti,

Carton, Leanne Castillo, Yuri

Joy Avery, Katherine M. Barnash,

David Clark, Elizabeth P. Cline,

Lorraine M. Barton, Lisa U. Baskin,

Victoria Coe, Anne Cognato, Susan

Leah Battaglioli, Marilyn Bedford,

Coleman, Janice Collinson,

Robin Brunstrum Benatti, Cynda L.

Carol Cook, Barbara Cortese,

Katherine M. Barnash, NMWA member

Joanne S. Growney, Lynda

Loncola, Elizabeth Mabie Elcik,

Brandi Roth, Janis M. Rothermel,

Habbinga, Carole Haber and Trudy

Paula J. Mack, Nancy M. Mackenzie,

Tara Rudman, Eileen Rust, Judith Rymer, Geri Rypkema,

Bayer, Jackolyn D. Haberman,

Vimala Maguire, Jane Maland,

Shiela Hale, Susan D. Halsey,

Jane C. Mallonee, Yardley A.

Ruth A. Safreed, Diane Salamon,

Patricia C. Harrington, Virginia

Manfuso, Teresa Marchese, Nancy

Suzanne Salgado, Janis Sallinger,

Harrison, Elaine H Harrison, Debra

Peery Marriott Foundation, Rebecca

Ann Salviazul, Donna Salvo,

Hartsell, Kathleen Hawkins,

Maroney, Ana I. Martinez, Maude

Clint Sanchez, Christopher Sargent,

Barbara Candace Hearon, Justine

Mason, Ellen S. Mauk, Phyllis T.

Margaret H. Sargent, Elaine Saul,

Hedgepeth, Carole Hedrick, Robert

McCafferty, L. I. McClelland, Emily B.

Valerie Schaefer, Patricia Schantz,

and Deborah Hefferon, Camille A.

McCoy, Agnes M. McGaha, Dianne W.

Mary Alice Schatzle, Robert I.

Helminski, Arthur Hicks, Carol E.

McGee, Sharlene McLearon,

Scherago, Judy F. Schnitzer,

Higgins, Christina G. Hoagland, Lisa

Carolyn L. McLeod, Emily McMahon,

Anikó G. Schott, Estelle L. Schwalb, George Scott, Gladys Seaward,

Hochheiser, Linda Hollett, Virginia L. Hood, Nancy Howe, Kathy Hoyt, Carol L. Huber, Geoffrey Huguely, Marissa A. and James Huttinger, Tamora Ilasat, Ann Isolde, Barbara G. Jackson, Michele Jacobs, Katherine

Susanne R. Corwin, Amy Crawford,

James, Alison F. Jennings, Elizabeth

Martha L. Crawley, Olga Crotty,

Jernigan, Victoria Johnson,

Patricia J. Cygan, David L. Cypes,

Lynne Johnson, Anne S. Johnson,

Barbara Dabul Ph.D., Joyce M.

Dr. Calvert Johnson, Kathleen R.

Davis, Cathy Davison, Pamela Day,

Johnston, Donna L. Jonte, Jeanne

Charlotte De Vincent, Mary Jane

Jordan, Doris Jorgensen, Linda A.

Gauvey Debay, Marge Delaney,

Joseph, Margaret E. Joyce, Sivita

Susan A. Derrera, Paula Des Jardins,

Justice, Miranda G. Katsoyannis,

Susan B. Dickson, Diane Divelbess,

Hope Kawashima, Betty A. Keel,

Rosalyn P. Doggett, Marilyn Doherty,

Albert Keidel, Mary E. Kenworthey,

Carol A. Donovan, William Doole,

Virginia Kersey, Mary Anne Kinsella,

Patricia Doran, Alejandrina Drew,

T Kirch, Patricia A. Klaneski,

What a gift she gave to America. The highlight of my trips to Washington all through the years has been to stop by the museum and watch it evolve into the gem it is today.

Deborah L. Neale, NMWA member

Rae Sedgwick, Mary Anna Severson, Suzanne A. Shaw, Linda Sieve, Andrea R. Skehan, Jennie Skerl, Mary Jo Smith, Shirlee Smolin, Rosemarie Snyder, Shirley Sparr, Helen H. Spiro, Victoria Stanley, Susan E. Starkweather, Pamela L. Stephens, Jill Sterrett, Julie S. Stone, Jill M. Strawn, Philippa Strum, Harriet Stulman, Sarah Hall Stump, Stephen Svab, Anne C. Swanson, Robert J. Task, Betty K. Taska, Edda Taylor, Gayle Teicher, Mary Augusta Thomas, Susan K. Thompson, Annie Totah, Sarah Treco, Susan K. Tubbesing, Karen Turner, Kristin

Kathleen McNamara, Mary A. Melton,

Vaughn, Rosa I. Vera, Pamela M.

Luke Driscoll, Lisa Dunham, Jan E.

Shaun Merrick, Robert H. Merritt,

Verney, Marlene Y. Vidibor, Jill Viney,

Duplain, Leslie Durr, Kenneth P.

Patricia Mertens, Noel C. Miller,

Kathryn A. Wagner, Mary-Frances

Terri Mockler, J. A. Montgomery,

Wain, Linda Walker, Sheri Walters,

Dutter, Marjorie Edmondson, Gerry Ehrlich, Kitty Eisele, Page Eisinger, June A. Ellingsworth, Connie Elsberg, Deborah English, Linda M. Ercole-Musso, Elle S. Fagan, Cynthia Farrell Johnson, Alicia Faxon, Emily Fernald, D. H. Finke, Janet Fisher, Helen H. Ford, Beverley M. Francis, Sue B. Friedman, Teresa Fucini, Lorna Gabby, Ann M. Gallegos, Sharon Galm, Rosamaria F. Gamble, Lucy Buchanan Garrett, Stuart Garrie, Joseph L. Gastwirth, Sherry Gaynes,

Wilhelmina Holladay was a pioneer for both women and the arts. She will dearly be missed, but her legacy will live on, inspiring women and promoting culture for generations to come.

Anne S. Johnson, NMWA member

Marilyn M. George, Kathi George,

27

S. S. Moore, Kristine Morris, Mary

Marjorie N. Wasilewski, Elaine

Mosley, G. H. Myer, Ruth Myers,

Watson, Kimm S. Watson, Diana K.

Debbie Neale, Richard Neel,

Weatherby, Carolyn F. Webber,

Harriet L. Newbill, Robert W.

Jill S. Weese, Marjorie N. Weingold,

Newcomb, Peggy Niece, Barbara

Cheryl E. Weinstein, Judith S.

Norton, Janine P. O’Brien, V. O.

Weisberg, Louise Weissglas,

Ogier, Julia S. Olander, Gail A.

H. L. Wells, Jane E. Wheeler, Marie

O’Neal, Colleen Orsatti, Katherine D.

Whitacre, Cathleen A. White, George

Ortega, Sue Oszewski, Constance L.

and Patti White, Nancy L. Wieman,

Otradovec, Bernice A. Pasternak,

Mariana Williams, Mary Jo Winder,

Marion W. Paton, Jane Pelland,

Sandra Wixon, Margaret K. Wolf,

Sho-Mei Pelletier, Ann L. Perper,

Diane Wood, Lucila G. Woodard,

Pamela Perun, Mary A. Peterson,

Carol Wooley, Elaine Zieve, Jan Zoch

Jill A. Phillips, Susan M. Pierce, Joan

Viola G. Gienger, Deborah P. Glenn,

Judith Knops, Marie Kocoshis,

Plummer, John Poertner, Karen R.

Maleen Godwin, Margery Goldberg,

Paula Kowalczuk, Barbara J. Kraft,

Pope, Barbara Ann Porte, Patricia

Marsha Goldstein, Susan P.

Cathleen A. Kurz, Ruth Lammert-

Proebsting, Margie Margarida G.

Gould, Arlene R. Graham, Paula

Reeves, Maureen A. Langenbach,

Rauen, Richard E. Redfield, Kathleen

Graham, The Greater Kansas City

Jane Larew, Wayne P. Lawson,

Reedy, Margaret R. Regan, Carol A.

Area Committee of NMWA,

Christine M. Leahy, Janine K.

Reilly, Esta Ress, Elaine Reuben,

Zina G. Greene, Naomi Greenwood,

Leland, Fred Levin, Marcia Levine,

Peggy A. Rezac, Anne Richardson,

Linda Grekin, Nancy Grinnell,

Suzanne Levin-Lapides, Nancy

Elaine Ridnor, Markley Roberts, Lynne

Helen M. Groft, Sheila and

Lindemeyer, Betty Liner, Nadine

Rogerson, Patricia Z. Rosenburg,

Patrick Gross, Alan L. Gropman,

Lisecki, Ruth A. Litwin, Ms. Monica

Sharon Ross, Jane Rostov,

*Due to publication deadlines, gifts listed are those received by April 30, 2021.

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

Mrs. Holladay has provided a wonderful service to all women by her devotion to women artists and creating this wonderful museum.

We all owe her an enormous debt of gratitude.

Supporting Roles 28

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Winton S. Holladay—Chair of the Board, Martha Dippell—President, Sheila Shaffer—Treasurer and Finance Chair, Charlotte Buxton— Secretary, Gina F. Adams—First Vice President, Susan Goldberg—Second Vice President, Susan Fisher Sterling— Alice West Director**, Pamela Parizek—Audit Chair, Marcia Myers Carlucci—Building Chair, Amy Weiss— Communications Chair, Ashley Davis— Government Relations Chair, Nancy Duber—Governance Chair, Nancy Nelson Stevenson—Works of Art Chair, Diane Casey-Landry—Investment Chair, Janice Adams, Lizette Corro, Betty B. Dettre, Deborah Dingell, Susan Dunlevy, Anjali Gupta, Pamela Gwaltney, Bonnie McElveen Hunter, Cindy Jones, Sally Jones, Ann Walker Marchant, Jacqueline Mars, Marlene Malek, Juliana May, Lucretia Adymy Risoleo, Stephanie Sale, Julie Sapone**, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Jessica Sterchi, Mahinder Tak, Sarah Treco**, Annie Totah, Patti White ** Ex-Officio (Board list current as of July 1, 2021)

SUMMER 2021

NMWA ADVISORY BOARD

Sarah Bucknell Treco—Chair, Noreen Ackerman, Kathe Hicks Albrecht, Sunny Scully Alsup, Jo Ann Barefoot, Gail Bassin, Arlene Begelman, Sue Ann Berlin, Catherine Little Bert, Brenda Bertholf, Margaret C. Boyce Brown, Deborah G. Carstens, Rebecca Chang, Paul T. Clark, Amb. Maria Eugenia Chiozza, Barbara Cohen, Marcella Cohen, Marian Cohen, Donna Paolino Coia, Robyn D. Collins, Linda Comstock, Elizabeth Crane, Prof.

Byron Croker, M.D., Lynn Finesilver Crystal, Elizabeth Cullen, Verónica de Ferrero, Belinda de Gaudemar, Kitty de Isola, Katy Graham Debost, Betty B. Dettre, Alexis Deutsch, Kenneth P. Dutter, Christine Edwards, Anne N. Edwards, Gerry Ehrlich, Elva FerrariGraham, Lisa Claudy Fleischman, Anita Forsyth, Lucrecia Forsyth, Rosemarie C. Forsythe, Anita Friedt, Claudia Fritsche, Barbara S. Goldfarb, Sally Gries, Michelle Guillermin, Anjali Gupta, Pamela Gwaltney, Florencia Helbling, Sue J. Henry, Jan Jessup, Alice Kaplan, Paulette Kessler, Janece Smoot Kleban, Arlene Fine Klepper, Doris Kloster, Malinda Krantz, Robin Leeds, Cynthia Madden Leitner, Gladys Lisanby, Sarah H. Lisanby, M.D., Fred M. Levin, Bonnie Loeb, Gloria and Dan Logan, Clara M. Lovett, Joanne Ludovici, Marcia MacArthur, Patricia Macintyre,

Linda Mann, Maria Teresa Martínez, C. Raymond Marvin, Ellen Stirn Mavec, Dee Ann McIntyre, Cynthia McKee, Fatima McKinley, Constance C. McPhee, Suzanne Mellor, Lorna Meyer Calas, Morgan Miller, Milica Mitrovich, Mary V. Mochary, Claudia Pensotti Mosca, Deborah E. Myers, Jeannette T. Nichols, Kay Woodward Olson, Monica T. O’Neill, Katherine D. Ortega, Margaret Perkins, Anthony Podesta, Sarah (Patti) Pyle, Drina Rendic, Helena Ribe, Barbara Richter, Elizabeth Robinson, Tara Rudman, Elizabeth A. Sackler, Stephanie Sale, Consuelo Salinas de Pareja, Steven Scott, Marsha Brody Shiff, Kathy Sierra, Ann Simon, Geri Skirkanich, Dot Snyder, Denise Littlefield Sobel, Patti Amanda Spivey, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Sara Steinfeld, Jo Stribling, Susan Swartz, Cheryl S. Tague, Judy Spence Tate, Lisa Cannon Taylor, MaryRoss Taylor, Brooke Taylor, Debra Therit, Deborah Dunklin Tipton, Marichu Valencia, Sara M. Vance Waddell, Paula S. Wallace, Harriet L. Warm, Krystyna Wasserman, Patti White, Carol Winer, Betty Bentsen Winn, Rhett D. Workman LEGACY OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN

Endowment Foundation Trustee ($1 million+) Anonymous, Betty B. and Rexford* Dettre, Estate of Grace A. George, Wilhelmina C. and Wallace F. Holladay, Sr.*, Carol and Climis Lascaris, Estate of Evelyn B. Metzger*, The Honorable Mary V. Mochary, Rose Benté Lee Ostapenko*, The Madeleine Rast Charitable Remainder Trust*, The Walton Family Foundation Endowment Foundation Governor ($500,000–$999,999) Noreen M. Ackerman, P. Frederick Albee and Barbara E. Albee*, Catherine L. and Arthur A. Bert, M.D., J.W. Kaempfer, Jr., Nelleke Langhout-Nix*, Joe R. and Teresa L.* Long, James R. and Suzanne S. Mellor, National Endowment for the Humanities, Drs. A. Jess and Ben Shenson*, MaryRoss Taylor, Alice W. and Gordon T.* West, Jr. Endowment Foundation Fellow ($200,000–$499,999) Catharina B. and Livingston L. Biddle, Jr.*, Marcia and Frank* Carlucci Charitable Foundation, Costa del Sol Cruise, Kenneth P. Dutter, Estate of E. Louise Gaudet, Lorraine G. Grace*, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Estate of Eleanor Heller*, Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston*/

The Shenson Foundation, in memory of Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson, Dorothy S. Lyddon*/Seven Springs Foundation, Marlene McArthur and Frederic V.* Malek, Victoria J. Mastrobuono*, Sea Goddess I and II Trips, Alejandra and Enrique Segura, Sheila and Richard Shaffer, Clarice Smith Endowment Foundation Counselor ($100,000–$199,999) Gina and Eugene Adams, Janice L. and Harold L. Adams, Nunda and Prakash Ambegaonkar, Carol C. Ballard, Baltic Cruise, Charlotte Clay Buxton, Eleanor and Nicholas D. Chabraja, Clark Charitable Foundation, Hilda and William B. Clayman, Julia B. and Michael M. Connors, Martha Lyn Dippell and Daniel Lynn Korengold, Gerry and S. Paul* Ehrlich, Jr., Enterprise Rent-A-Car, FedEx Corporation, The Geiger Family Foundation, Barbara A. Gurwitz and William D. Hall, Caroline Rose Hunt*/ The Sands Foundation, Cindy and Evan Jones, Alice D. Kaplan, Dorothy* and Raymond LeBlanc, Lucia Woods Lindley*, Gladys K. and James W.* Lisanby, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Adrienne B. and John F. Mars, Juliana and Richard E.* May, Bonnie McElveenHunter, Irene Natividad, The Miller and Jeanette Nichols Foundation/ Jeannette T. Nichols, Nancy O’Malley*, Lady Pearman, Reinsch Pierce Family Foundation/Lola C. Reinsch and J. Almont Pierce, Julia Sevilla Somoza, Marsha Brody Shiff, Ann Simmons*, June Speight*, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Mahinder K. and Sharad Tak, Sami and Annie Totah Family Foundation, Elzbieta Chlopecka Vande Sande Endowment Circle ($50,000–$99,999) Linda Able Choice*, George* and Ursula Andreas, Arkansas Fifty, Lulu H. Auger*, Virginia Mitchell Bailey*, Sondra D. and Howard M. Bender*/The Bender Foundation, Inc., Patti Cadby Birch*, Laura Lee and Jack S. Blanton, Sr.*/Scurlock Foundation, Anne R. Bord*, Caroline Boutté, BP Foundation, Inc., M. A. Ruda* and Peter J. P. Brickfield, Margaret C. Boyce Brown, Martha Buchanan, Sandra and Miles Childers, Mary and Armeane Choksi, Donna Paolino Coia and Arthur Coia, Margaret and David Cole/The Cole Family Foundation, Holland H. Coors*, Porter and Lisa Dawson, Courtenay Eversole, Suzy Finesilver*/ The Hertzel and Suzy Finesilver Charitable Foundation, Karen Dixon Fuller, Alan Glen Family Trust, Peter and Wendy Gowdey, Laura L. Guarisco, Jolynda H. and David M. Halinski, Janie Hathoot, Hap and Winton Holladay, I. Michael and Beth Kasser, William R. and Christine M. Leahy, Louise C. Mino Trust, Zoe H. and James H. Moshovitis, Joan and

Lucio A. Noto, Marjorie H. and Philip Odeen, Nancy Bradford Ordway, Katherine D. Ortega, Margaret H. and Jim Perkins, Ramsay D. Potts*, in honor of Veronica R. Potts, Elizabeth Pruet*, Edward Rawson, Jane S. Schwartz Trust, Jack and Dana* Snyder, Judith Zee Steinberg and Paul J. Hoenmans, Susan and Scott Sterling, Nancy N. and Roger Stevenson, Jr., Jo and Thomas Stribling, Susan and Jim Swartz, Elizabeth Stafford Hutchinson Endowed Internship—Texas State Committee of NMWA, Frances and William* Usher, Stuart and Chancy West, Betty Bentsen Winn and Susan Winn Lowry, Yeni Wong Endowment Patron ($25,000–$49,999) Micheline and Sean* Connery, Stephanie Fein, Sheila ffolliott , Georgia State Committee of NMWA, New York Trip, Mississippi State Committee of NMWA, Northern Trust, Estate of Mary Marvin, Breckinridge Patterson, Chris Petteys*, Lisa and Robert Pumphrey*, Elizabeth A. Sackler, Estate of Madoline W. Shreve*, Patti Amanda and Bruce Spivey, Sahil Tak/ST Paper, LLC, In honor of Alice West, Jean and Donald M. Wolf, The Women’s Committee of NMWA Endowment Sponsor ($15,000–$24,999) Deborah G. Carstens, Martha and Homer Gudelsky*, Sally L. Jones, Louise H. Matthews Fund, Lily Y. Tanaka, Liz and Jim Underhill, Elizabeth Welles, Dian Woodner Endowment Friend ($10,000–$14,999) Carol A. Anderson, Julia and George L. Argyros, Mrs. Joseph T. Beardwood, III, Catherine Bennett and Fred Frailey, Susan G. Berk, Mary Kay Blake, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lynne V. and Richard Cheney, Esther Coopersmith, Darby Foundation, Juliet De Laricheliere*, Jack J. Dreyfus, Jr.*, Patricia M. and Clifford J. Ehrlich, Mary Page and Thomas B. Evans, Lois Lehrman Grass, Anna Stapleton Henson, Alexine C. and Aaron G.* Jackson, Jan Jessup, Pamela Johnson and Wesley King, Helga and Peter-Hans Keilbach, Howard and Michelle Kessler, Ellen U. and Alfred A. King*, Jacqueline Badger Mars, C. Raymond Marvin, Clyde and Pat Dean McCall, Edwina H. and Charles P. Milner, Evelyn V. and Robert M.* Moore, Harriet Newbill, Estate of Edythe Bates Old, PepsiCo., Inc., Anne and Chris Reyes, Savannah Trip, Mary Anne B. Stewart, Paula Wallace/Savannah College of Art and Design, Marjorie Nohowel Wasilewski, Jean S. and Gordon T. Wells * Deceased (all lists as of April 30, 2021)

Museum Shop

Shop NMWA online at https://shop.nmwa.org or call 202-783-7994 29

Lavinia Fontana Magnet As a painter of the Bolognese elite, Fontana portrayed noble wives, daughters, and widows.

Fancy up your fridge or filing cabinet with her regal Portrait of a Noblewoman (ca. 1580) from the NMWA collection. $6/Member $5.40 (Item #388)

“Build Your Own Empire” Candle This motivational candle smells like fresh cut flowers, clean air, and sweet vanilla. Natural soy wax. 9 oz. $30/Member $27 (Item #31319)

Live Green: 52 Steps for a More Sustainable Life This practical guide presents 52 sustainable living changes—one for each week of the year—that you can make to be more self-sufficient and reduce your impact on the environment.

Hardcover, 157 pages. $12.99/ Member $11.69 (Item #3520)

#5WomenArtists T-Shirt Help support our work to right the art world’s gender imbalance by wearing this #5WomenArtists T-shirt.

New color: pale pink. Sizes S–2XL. 100% lightweight cotton. $25/Member $22.50 (Item #27464)

Rainbow Cactus Print Brighten up any room with this sunny desert scene designed

by Ashley Molesso. 11 x 14 in.

Digitally printed on 100-lb. felt-textured paper. $20/ Member $18 (Item #31150) Tutti-Frutti Puzzle Take a mental vacation with this tropical-themed 500-piece puzzle. Completed puzzle is 19.25 x 26.6 in. Made from 100% recycled paper. $26/ Member $23.40 (Item #31203)

WO M E N I N T H E A RTS

Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair This landmark exploration of Black hair synthesizes research in history, fashion, art, and visual culture to reassess the hair story of peoples of African descent. Hardcover, 200 pages. $39.95/Member $35.95 (Item #4398)

Papaya Socks These fun and comfy cotton socks pay homage to the papaya. One size fits all. $14/Member $12.60 (Item #27296)

1250 New York Avenue NW Washington, DC 20005-3970

COMING SOON

Mark Your Calendar!

Visit Before NMWA’s Upcoming Renovation

Check pages 14–16 or https://nmwa.org for more programs and events.

The museum’s building closes on August 9 for a top-to-bottom renovation, with a planned reopening celebration in fall 2023. This summer, enjoy your favorite works from NMWA’s collection in our current space and help us mark this moment for the museum. In the meantime, continue to join us for regular talks and programs that champion women in the arts.

August 1–8: Special Closing Week Activities Say “See You Soon” to NMWA during our closing week, featuring free admission, extended hours, member giveaways, and more!

Wednesday, August 4, 6–7 p.m.: Virtual Closure Celebration Join NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling, who hosts a live event exploring exciting plans for the renovation as well as the museum’s plans during the building closure.

July 5: Reclamation: Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals This innovative virtual exhibition reactivates with a new public call to contribute to our recipe archive! To join in, visit https://reclamation.nmwa.org.

PHOTO BY EMILY HAIGHT, NMWA

//

A visitor enjoys a gallery with Frida Kahlo’s Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky (1937); Oil on Masonite, 30 x 24 in.; NMWA, Gift of the Honorable Clare Boothe Luce