Women in the Arts Fall 2024

DEAR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS,

This fall will mark one year since NMWA’s reopening after our major renovation—how time flies!

Just as we planned, the renewed museum is giving us space to soar, bolstering our work as we realize the building’s full potential. In this issue, you will read about programming that the renovation has made possible, such as the recent Art, Books, and Creativity Teacher Institute, held in our brand-new studio, and the new NMWA Nights series that has become a hit with after-hours museum visitors.

In addition, our new special exhibition, Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter, connects to the heart of our mission. Opening September 20, this presentation features the work of Suchitra Mattai, who layers vintage and contemporary materials into visually arresting works of art that are inspired by her family’s history and heritage in the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. Mattai’s art will engage visitors on many levels, from the intricate handwork in her textile installations to the ideas about reclamation and empowerment they embody.

As you plan your next visit, don’t miss your last chance to see three exhibitions that inaugurated our new fourth-floor MaryRoss Taylor galleries! Through October 20, Holding Ground showcases newly created artists’ books in honor of our reopening; Hung Liu: Making History features paintings and prints that exemplify Liu’s poignant art; and Impressive: Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella shares a powerful suite of seventeenth-century prints created in the Louvre.

This exciting and wide-ranging year of programming has been possible thanks to your support and partnership.

WITH GRATITUDE,

Susan Fisher Sterling

The Alice West Director

CHAMPION WOMEN THROUGH THE ARTS

MUSEUM INFORMATION

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WOMEN IN THE ARTS Fall 2024 Volume 42, no. 3

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

DIRECTOR

Susan Fisher Sterling EDITOR

Elizabeth Lynch

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Alicia Gregory DESIGN

Studio A, Alexandria, VA

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

Women in the Arts is published four times a year as a benefit for museum members by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20005-3970. Copyright © 2024 National Museum of Women in the Arts. National Museum of Women in the Arts®, The Women’s Museum®, #5WomenArtists™, and Women in the Arts® are registered trademarks of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

On the cover: Suchitra Mattai, as we know it, as we dream it (detail), 2023; Embroidery floss, beads, found necklace, and appliqué on found tapestry, 66 x 46 in.; On loan from Pamela and David Hornick; © Suchitra Mattai; Photo by Heather Rasmussen

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“I see my practice as one that is not just experimental and intuitive, but also has no limits.”

SUCHITRA MATTAI, PAGE 8

// FEATURES ↑ 8

Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter

Multidisciplinary artist

Mattai uses richly colored fabrics and meaningful found objects to create textile installations, sculptures, collages, and paintings. Her works reimagine colonial-era histories and offer a more egalitarian future.

HANNAH SHAMBROOM

The museum’s Women, Arts, and Social Change initiative welcomes audiences to a revitalized suite of public programs.

KELLEY DALEY AND ALICIA PERKOVICH

22 Archive Transcribe-a-thon: Frida Kahlo Papers

Attendees at a recent event transcribed correspondence from NMWA’s Archive of Women Artists.

DOMINIQUE MANUEL

Arts News

A Medal-Worthy Work

Amid the fencing, diving, sprinting, and swimming of the summer Olympics in Paris, artist Alison Saar (b. 1956) unveiled a new public artwork to commemorate the games. Saar’s work, Salon (2024), sited in the Jardin Charles Aznavour off of the city’s Avenue des Champs-Élysées, features the figure of a seated Black woman who holds a golden flame in one hand and an olive branch in the other. She sits in a circle of chairs that

represent different regions of the world, in a symbol of gathering at the Olympics. Passersby are welcome to sit and enjoy the monument and the garden. In selecting Saar for this commission, the Olympic Art Visions program passed the baton to Los Angeles, the artist’s hometown and host of the 2028 summer games.

In Memoriam: Faith Ringgold

During Faith Ringgold’s 2013 exhibition at NMWA, American People, Black Light: Faith Ringgold’s Paintings of the 1960s, the artist said, “I felt, as I still feel, that artists have the job of documenting their times.” Ringgold (1930–2024), who died April 13 at age ninety-three, was an innovative painter, illustrator, writer, activist, and advocate for women and Black artists. Born in 1930 in New York, she was inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights and feminist movements to explore race and gender in the United States through her art and teaching. She began experimenting with textile art

forms in the 1970s, and in 1980 she created the first of her signature stor y quilts. Ringgold accrued numerous honorary degrees and awards, including a Caldecott Honor for her children’s book Tar Beach (1991), and was honored with retrospective exhibitions and museum acquisitions. She created a renowned body of work—story quilts, paintings, children’s books, and more—and a legacy for generations of artists.

Winning Women

Ar tist Carissa Rodriguez (b. 1970) has won the inaugural Artists & Mothers grant. The $25,000 award is intended to cover childcare costs for New York-based artists parenting a child under the age of three. “I am grateful to Artists & Mothers for recognizing that . . . the care work that holds us together as families and communities is a vital part of what makes art possible,” Rodriguez said.

Mumbai-based artist Prajakta Potnis (b. 1980) has won the 2024 Loewe Foundation/Studio Voltaire Award. In her multidisciplinary practice, Potnis explores the private and public influences of global politics and economics. The prize includes studio space for a year at London’s Studio Voltaire.

In Memoriam: Audrey Flack

Audrey Flack (1931–2024), a groundbreaking Photorealist, died on June 28 at age ninety-three. The artist is recognized for her large, opulent still-life paintings and her monumental bronze sculptures of goddesses. The most prominent woman among the first Photorealists of the

Audrey Flack and parrot with Self Portrait (1974)

1960s, Flack explored personal and sociopolitical issues, stereotypes of womanhood, and the transience of life. In March, a solo exhibition of new works premiered at Hollis Taggart gallery in New York. Her memoir, With Darkness Came Stars (2024), was also released that month. A new exhibition of Flack’s work will open in October at the Parrish Art Museum in New York. In 1992, NMWA featured an exhibition of her art, Breaking the Rules: Audrey Flack, A Retrospective 1960–1990, and the museum’s collection holds several of her works.

More Than Meets the Eye

In Philadelphia, a public artwork by Sonya Clark (b. 1967) activates the house where Thomas Jefferson and Robert Hemmings lived in 1776,

during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. On view through December 1, The Descendants of Monticello (2024) is part of Declaration House, an exhibition by Monument Lab at Independence National Historical Park. The project centers Hemmings, who was enslaved to Jefferson, as it illuminates the legacies of freedom and slavery central to the country’s founding. Displayed in the windows of the house, Clark’s work features video portraits of the blinking eyes of descendants of the Hemmings family. The work responds to the fact that no known images exist of Hemmings. Clark says, “Even when we don’t see the eyes of someone like Robert Hemmings, [his relatives] hold the genetic material of his legacy and his identity.”

Clark, The Descendants of Monticello, part of Declaration House, Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, 2024

Culture Watch

ARIZONA

Chicana Photographers LA! Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson September 28, 2024–February 15, 2025 https://ccp.arizona.edu

Photographs by Christina Fernandez, Sandra de la Loza, Laura Aguilar, Amina Cruz, and Star Montana spotlight families, neighborhoods, sacred spaces, and identity politics.

CALIFORNIA

Mary Cassatt at Work Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor RM October 5, 2024–January 26, 2025 https://famsf.org

The parallels between Cassatt’s images of “women’s work”— knitting, bathing children, nursing infants—and the work of her own art-making take center stage in this major exhibition.

FLORIDA

Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota RM Through May 11, 2025 https://ringling.org

Ceramic sculptures by thirty-six Japanese artists, including veterans Tsuji Kyō and Mishima Kimiyo and emerging artists

Mori Aya and Kawaura Saki, highlight a range of approaches.

ILLINOIS

Millie Wilson: The Museum of Lesbian Dreams

Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign RM Through March 1, 2025 https://kam.illinois.edu

This retrospective contextualizes Wilson’s multidisciplinary practice, which joins art and pedagogy to examine feminism, queerness, and art institutions.

IOWA

Samantha Box: Caribbean Dreams

Des Moines Art Center RM October 11, 2024–January 19, 2025 https://desmoinesartcenter.org

Concurrent with Samantha Box: Confluences at NMWA, this exhibition features Box’s layered self-portrait, landscape, and still-life photography, which probes diasporic identity and the artist’s Jamaican and Trinidadian cultures.

KANSAS

Women of Abstract  Expressionism

Mulvane Art Museum, Washburn University, Topeka Through December 2024 https://mulvaneartmuseum.org

Celebrating women who contributed to Abstract Expressionism, this exhibition includes work by Rita Blitt, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Joan Mitchell, among others.

MARYLAND

Dyani White Hawk: Bodies of Water

Baltimore Museum of Art RM Through December 1, 2024 https://artbma.org

White Hawk (Sičáŋu Lakota) presents sculptural works from her series “Carry” alongside selected historical Lakota belongings from the museum’s collection.

NEW YORK

Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies

Brooklyn Museum □ September 13, 2024–January 19, 2025

https://brooklynmuseum.org

Catlett, a groundbreaking sculptor, printmaker, and activist, gets her due in this exhibition of more than 150 works, including prints on loan from NMWA’s collection.

International CANADA

Sonia Boyce: Feeling Her Way

Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto September 19, 2024–April 6, 2025

https://ago.ca

Boyce combines video, collage, music, and sculpture in a playful, thought-provoking installation that features the vocal performances of four Black women musicians.

UNITED KINGDOM

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton

Bharti Kher: Alchemies

Through April 27, 2025

https://ysp.org.uk

Kher’s mythical sculptures— including four outdoor bronze works—center the female body and experience, addressing timely political issues around identity and gender.

Ruth Orkin: Bike Trip USA, 1939

In 1939, seventeen-year-old Ruth Orkin (1921–1985) embarked on a solo journey across the United States with her bicycle and camera. Departing from her home in Los Angeles, she traveled long distances by car, train, and bus, using her bicycle to traverse Chicago and the major East Coast cities. Ruth Orkin: Bike Trip USA, 1939 (Silvana Editoriale, 2024) tells the story of this journey for the first time. The book opens with reproductions of Orkin’s scrapbook of the trip, comprising press clippings and her photographs with handwritten captions. “Nearly lost my camera taking these,” she captioned an aerial photo of Connecticut and the Long Island Sound, the result of cycling past an airfield and asking to take a flight. The works are amateur but inventive, offering a glimpse into Orkin’s later successes, such as her iconic and satirical American Girl in Italy (1951) series, highlighted as an example of work possibly inspired by her travels in 1939. An essay by photography historian Clément Chéroux details Orkin’s artistic development and provides historical context, including the link between feminism and mobility. Orkin’s bold journey was, as Chéroux writes, “a veritable feat of emancipation.”

// Alicia Gregory

Portrait of a Woman

Blending art history, biography, imagined vignettes, and memoir, Bridget Quinn brings fresh energy to the life and art of French Revolution-era painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803). In Portrait of a Woman: Art, Rivalry & Revolution in the Life of Adélaïde LabilleGuiard (Chronicle Books, 2024), the artist emerges as an innovative talent and advocate for women artists. Excerpts from the extensive, dishy memoirs of fellow artist Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun set the tone for brief chapters. Quinn describes the popular view of a rivalry between the two artists—fueled by a public pairing of their work, plus a lot of gossip—as “the hot take of its time.” She deftly, and often humorously, dramatizes scenes: the day when Labille-Guiard and VigéeLeBrun gained admission to the prestigious Académie Royal; the unveiling of her renowned SelfPortrait with Two Pupils (1785); the public burning of perhaps her most ambitious painting. Amid these, Quinn speculates about the artist’s personal life, which featured a divorce and likely a queer relationship, and her persistence in teaching and art. “Facing art critics and a judgmental public,” Quinn writes, the artist “sits tall in her velvet seat. Breaks rules. Smiles.”

// Elizabeth Lynch

Education Report

Summer Programs for Educators

July was a busy and exciting month for NMWA’s education team. While teachers have a short, well-deserved summer break, NMWA educators stepped into high gear. We delivered educator professional development programs virtually and in person, while we also refreshed our online teacher resources.

Early-childhood through adult educators attended NMWA’s first Art, Books, and Creativity Teacher Institute in five years from July 8 to 12. During this thirty-five-hour intensive professional development program, fifteen participants attended, from Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. They learned about NMWA’s artwork, with special attention to its rich collection of artists’ books; explored connections between art-making and writing; fostered their own creativity; and thought anew about their teaching.

The education team was excited to use NMWA’s new studio space—a key addition from the renovation—for this incredible week of learning

“This was one of the best professional developments I have done. After a difficult couple of school years, it truly reinvigorated me and got me thinking about future possibilities. I can’t thank you enough!”

Art, Books, and Creativity Teacher Institute attendee

and creating. We are infinitely grateful to the funders, designers, and makers of this space! Attendees enjoyed the well-equipped and comfortable classroom, as did our amazing guest instructors, artists Carol Barton and Kerry McAleerKeeler and educators Kris Grey (Visual Thinking Strategies) and Andrea Nelson (826DC).

Left: In the new studio, a key addition from NMWA’s recent renovation, artist Carol Barton leads a session during the Art, Books, and Creativity Teacher Institute

Above: Artist Priya Pereira presents puzzle books during the Virtual Educator Summer Camp

NMWA hosted its fifth Virtual Educator Summer Camp from July 22 to 26. The free camp served 224 participants from seventeen U.S. states and Washington, D.C., Canada, Belgium, Bermuda, and Nigeria. This year, we explored book formats including fishbone books, which resemble a fish’s spine or tree trunk, and volvelles, books with rotating wheels that reveal and conceal content. We also incorporated repurposed and loved fabrics and paper into memory blocks and “junk” journals.

Instructors included Maryland and D.C. ar tists Suzanne Coley, whose artist’s book In Bloom (2023) is on view in Holding Ground; Sarah Matthews; and Nathalie Ryan. Indian artist Priya Pereira returned to teach her second camp session, during which she introduced a format she calls puzzle books. Rounding out the program, Iowa-based artist Emily Martin walked us through the wonders of volvelles. All sessions were CART captioned, recorded, and shared with participants so they can revisit their summer learning during the school year.

These offerings showcased incredible teamwork—with all four NMWA educators, Addie Gayoso, Ashley Harris, Deborah Gaston, and Micah Koppl, bolstered by summer intern Ellie Alexander and the Library and Research Center team—co-teaching and working to ensure their success.

Digital Resources

July also saw the launch of new and improved educator resources on NMWA’s website. With the help of NMWA’s digital engagement team and website developers, educators evaluated and reimagined this section’s accessibility, searchability, and overall functionality. Director of Education and Interpretation Deborah Gaston reviewed, refined, and remediated the fourteen-lesson Art, Books, and Creativity Curriculum, making each lesson more digestible and accessible. The lessons are now organized and completely searchable, and they can be filtered by grade level and subject.

Interested in exploring these resources? Find them at https:// nmwa.org/learn/for-educators

Dedicated Donor

// IN MEMORY OF LISA CLAUDY FLEISCHMAN

A SIGNIFICANT BEQUEST from longtime museum supporter

Elisabeth “Lisa” Claudy Fleischman, as well as gifts in her memory from friends and family, will benefit NMWA’s art collection and programming.

Fleischman, who was a member of NMWA’s Advisory Board (NAB) and founded the Wyoming Committee, was involved with many areas of the museum. Her husband, Chuck Fleischman, reflected on how they met, as college sophomores in an art history survey course. They enjoyed art and museums for the forty-five years they were together. “Lisa was especially interested in meeting artists and learning about what inspired their work,” he says. She earned an MBA as well as a master’s degree in public and private management, and she dedicated her career

“Lisa Claudy Fleischman was a dynamic and multifaceted member of NMWA’s community, sharing her energetic leadership and passion for our mission. Her legacy of generosity will continue to be felt at the museum in the years ahead.”

// NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling

to nonprofit consulting and museum work before she left to focus on raising their two children. When she got involved with NMWA and other institutions as a volunteer, she was knowledgeable and dedicated.

“Lisa was a uniquely focused person. She spent time on what she found most valuable and interesting in the world,” says Chuck. Their familiarity with NMWA dated back to the museum’s founding, when Chuck’s mother served as a volunteer, and their relationship with the museum grew as Lisa became increasingly involved in the NAB, Director’s Circle, and programming. In recent years, they split time between the Washington, D.C., area and Teton Village, Wyoming. There, Lisa began making connections to start a Wyoming Committee as part of NMWA’s network of national and international outreach committees.

Chuck recalls that when she was working to build the committee, the two drove around the state as she cultivated relationships and grew enthusiasm for NMWA. Chuck describes, “One of her strengths as a leader was drawing people in and getting them to share in the cause.”

Lisa was passionate about Wyoming’s participation in the Women to Watch exhibition series, a collaboration between the museum and committees. She spearheaded programs to connect with women in the arts and was a champion of Wyoming’s vibrant cultural landscape.

After Lisa passed away in 2023, two circles of her friends made memorial donations to support her interests at the museum. Members of the Wyoming Committee sponsored the exhibition catalogue for New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024 in her memory. Another group, many of them members of book clubs that Lisa attended, made donations to support an art acquisition. With NMWA’s curatorial team, they selected a work by Baltimore-based artist LaToya M. Hobbs, whose art was not previously represented in the collection. In addition, Fleischman’s generous bequest will support an upcoming NMWA exhibition.

SUCHITRA MATTAI

SUCHITRA MATTAI Myth from Matter

September 20, 2024–January 12, 2025

Ideas about place are integral to the work of Suchitra Mattai (b. 1973, Georgetown, Guyana).

The artist’s ancestral roots lie in India, via forebears who migrated as indentured laborers to Guyana, on the Caribbean coast. Mattai grew up in Guyana and Canada before settling in the United States. In July 2022, she moved from Colorado to Los Angeles, California. There, in her light-filled studio, Mattai’s vision and career have flourished. While preparing for her NMWA exhibition, the artist spoke with Assistant Curator Hannah Shambroom about her family history, her exploration of materials and techniques, and her aim to honor and re-envision the past by viewing historical works through a fresh lens.

Hannah Shambroom: You started your career as a painter and then began shifting toward sculpture and installation works. Can you talk about that transition?

Suchitra Mattai: Throughout my art education I was interested in painting, drawing, and sculpture. After my undergrad years, I moved to New York and took postbaccalaureate sculpture classes at Pratt Institute. As a child, I also learned fiber-based practices from my grandmothers on a much smaller scale. I rarely married the two in my early work.

In 2018, I was given the opportunity to participate in and have a commission for the Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and that project was my first massive installation. Part of it involved eight large-scale tapestries, along with video and found objects. Since then, my mind, my practice—everything has expanded. I see my practice as one that is not just experimental and intuitive, but also has no limits.

HS: Similarly, your large-scale work siren song (2022) also includes a video component. How do you approach the contrast between the digital medium of video and your use of weaving and other hand-worked textile techniques?

SM: I think this is a challenge when one uses mixed media in general: How do we bring together disparate materials into something that feels unified? The video that I use in my projects just becomes another element, like another collage

“When I say ‘maximalist,’ it’s about layers that all have a rich intensity, not just from color, but from making things with your hands.”

California; Courtesy of Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

element, if you will. At the same time, video allows for a different kind of storytelling. That kind of storytelling coupled with tangible objects creates a wider, richer story.

For siren song, I used video that I collected when retracing my ancestors’ steps across the Atlantic Ocean on two different voyages, all the way from India to Africa and then over to Brazil, so around the Indian Ocean and across the Atlantic. Guyana is right above Brazil, so it was a similar journey. It was such an emotionally charged experience. I wanted the saris and textiles in siren song to tell a story about diaspora, specifically from a woman’s perspective. I also wanted to have this feeling of being overwhelmed by the ocean, and about indentured laborers crossing the Atlantic, the journey that my ancestors embarked on.

HS: In several of the works on view—installations and tapestries in particular—you use a distinctive technique that you call sari weaving. How did you develop this practice?

SM: It’s not traditional weaving at all. I use a one-inch-byone-inch grid, with a rope net. It’s almost like large-scale embroidery, because you knot, you use strips of saris as embroidery floss, and you go back and forth, using your hand as the needle.

A lot of craft processes, such as needlepoint, use a grid. But I also have a math background, and the grid felt natural to me. I knew I wanted to use saris in some way—to have them be recycled and to evoke the sense of bodies in space.

HS: You’ve also described your style as maximalism inspired by Caribbean and Guyanese culture. What does that mean to you?

SM: The history of my ancestral lineage can be described entirely through color, because South Asian culture is very colorful. The outfits we wear—the saris, the lehenga, the outfits for rituals, the decorative elements that we use for weddings—everything is so rich in color. And then it moves to the Caribbean, where there are additional influences, like Carnival and other festivals, that affect what people use to dress up and create costumes. The Caribbean is very, very colorful.

When I say “maximalist,” it’s about layers that all have a rich intensity, not just from color, but from making things with your hands. There’s a “do it yourself” mentality in both the Caribbean and in South Asia, and that plays a huge role

in my practice—the sense of finding what you need, or combining objects in strange and interesting ways.

HS: I’m interested in the different types of found and vintage materials that you use. Often, your materials come from very specific sources. For example, in the work love, labor, and the pursuit of happiness (2022) you use vintage saris, but also your mother’s sari.

SM: Ultimately, I’m a storyteller, and I want to tell the stories of people whose voices haven’t been heard. I start with the stories of my own family, who were indentured laborers during British colonial rule. When I incorporate an object or material that’s more intimate, I’m honoring their presence, their stories. It brings me great joy to do that.

HS: You also repurpose found vintage tapestries and cross-stitched textiles, adding your own stitching,

as we know it, as we dream it, 2023; Embroidery floss, beads, found necklace, and appliqué on found tapestry, 66 x 46 in.; On loan from Pamela and David Hornick

beading, and other elements to the existing works. You have said that you think of these as collaborations with artists of the past. What do you mean by that?

SM: What unites these objects is that they have a kind of aura or a story embedded within them. They might recall a particular period in history, or, if an old tapestry or needlepoint has the hand embedded within it, enable you to see the spirit of the maker. Specifically, with the needlepoints and tapestries, they often have a European pastoral scene within them, and then I rework them to include this brown presence.

A lot of the needlepoints and tapestries were massproduced, and—the needlepoints especially—were made by

women in the domestic sphere. So part of the story is that I want their hand to be visible.

The way I see it is that past makers’ work is united with mine through labor, because all of these practices are not just labors of love, they’re labors of the hand. They are crochet, or embroidery, or needlepoint. These are very time-consuming processes. What I hope happens in my practice is that there’s a light being shed, a highlighting of this labor.

HS: You’ve talked about your desire to create new mythologies. What does that look like to you?

SM: A lot of my work looks at folklore and mythology, particularly heroines and other women within those spaces.

I have a sense that mythology holds all that we fear and all that we love within our collective consciousness. If we are going to find the utopian, equitable space that we all want to live in, and we want to dream of, we have to completely change what occupies this collective consciousness.

The question is, how do we do this? One way is by reworking figures within pre-existing stories, whether they’re in needlepoints or in paintings. Changing them and staging this brown reclamation, brown intervention—finding and adding brown women to spaces that they existed in but were not depicted in—that’s a way of starting to tell a new story.

// Hannah Shambroom is assistant curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Note: This conversation is adapted from an interview for the exhibition catalogue Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter (2024).

Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibition is made possible by Denise Littlefield Sobel, with major funding provided by Tara Rudman. Additional support is provided by the Sue J. Henry and Carter G. Phillips Exhibition Fund, Stephanie Sale, Anjali and Arun Gupta, and Roy and Manisha Kapani.

a shadow, a doubt, 2022; Gouache and vintage book pages on wood cradle board, 16 x 16 in.; Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles

love, labor, and the pursuit of happiness 2022; Vintage saris, artist’s mother’s sari, ghungroo bells, clothespins, and fabric, 70 x 72 in.; Bill and Christy Gautreaux Collection, Kansas City, Missouri

// EXHIBITIONS // KEY

Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter

September 20, 2024–January 12, 2025

Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts Through October 20, 2024

Hung Liu: Making History Through October 20, 2024

Impressive: Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella Through October 20, 2024

In Focus: Artists at Work Through April 20, 2025

Samantha Box: Confluences

November 20, 2024–March 23, 2025

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

F Free

M Free for members

Free for members and one guest

A Free with admission

R Reservations required at https://nmwa.org

O No reservations required

E Exhibition-related program

V Virtual/online program

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

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

Daily / Weekly / Monthly

For museum admission, advance online reservations are suggested.

Free Community Day

FIRST SUNDAYS & SECOND WEDNESDAYS 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

The first Sunday and second Wednesday of each month, NMWA offers free admission to the public. Enjoy current exhibitions and the collection galleries. Advance registration is required, with limited walk-up availability.

Open Studio

FIRST SUNDAYS & SECOND WEDNESDAYS 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O E

During Free Community Days, visit the museum’s new studio for drop-in art-making activities. All ages welcome; children twelve and younger require adult supervision.

Collection Highlights Tour

DAILY 2–2:45 P.M. & FIRST SUNDAYS 11–11:45 A.M. // M A O

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

Gallery Talk

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

Conversational, thematic, staff-led talks highlight several works on view. Join as often as you like—content varies.

NMWA Nights

SELECT WEDNESDAYS 5:30–8 P.M. // R

On the third Wednesday of most months, join a creative and engaging after-hours experience! Peruse the galleries, grab a cocktail, make ar t, and enjoy a performance or talk.

The Bigger Picture

SELECT SUNDAYS 2–3:30 P.M. // R

On select Sundays, this lecture series shakes up the art historical narrative by exploring ar t from the sixteenth century to today through the museum’s collection and topical themes.

Art Chat @ Five

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

On select Fridays, jump-start your weekend with art! Join NMWA educators online for informal 45-minute chats about selected works from NMWA’s collection and exhibitions.

view in Holding Ground: Artists’ Books for the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Join Solis and fellow exhibition artists for a virtual conversation on October 3

Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter opens September 20; Join us for Member Preview Day on September 19, an exhibition-themed NMWA Nights event on October 16, and a Fresh Talk featuring Mattai on December 11

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

September

9/18 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

9/18 NMWA Nights

WED 5:30–8 P.M. // R

Kick-start the second season of our late-hours series with poet Alexa Patrick during an evening featuring artinspired spoken-word poetry. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members. Free for members at the Explorer level and above. All members can purchase tickets, even if the event is sold out.

9/19 Member Preview Day: Suchitra Mattai

THU 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // M + R E

Join us for a special preview of Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter and discover Mattai’s multifaceted work. Museum only open to members. Tours throughout the day.

9/20 Opening Day: Suchitra Mattai

FRI 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // A M + E

9/22 The Bigger Picture: Material Matters

SUN 2–3:30 P.M. // R

An artist’s medium carries meaning. Learn how women innovated with unconventional materials and elevated historically undervalued ones. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members. Complimentary tickets for Circles members: call 202-783-7986 to register.

9/25 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

9/27 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

October

10/2 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

10/3 Artists’ Voices: Holding Ground

THU 1–2 P.M. // F M R E V

Join us for a virtual conversation with book artists Alisa Banks, Julie Chen, Suzanne Coley, and Maricarmen Solis as they reflect on their genre and their works in Holding Ground

10/6 Free Community Day

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

10/6 Open Studio

SUN 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

10/6 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 11–11:45 A.M. // F M O

10/6 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 2–2:45 P.M. // F M O

10/9 Free Community Day

WED 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

10/9 Open Studio

WED 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

10/9 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

10/9 Collection Highlights Tour

WED 2–2:45 P.M. // F M O

// KEY F Free

M Free for members

Free for members and one guest

A Free with admission

R Reservations required at https://nmwa.org

O No reservations required

E Exhibition-related program

V Virtual/online program

z

Please note that the time one for all online programs is Eastern Time)

10/12 Firsthand Experience: Bookmaking

SAT 10 A.M.–3 P.M. // R

Explore bookmaking techniques with artist Sarah Matthews and create your own one-of-a-kind artist’s book. Learners ages thirteen and older are welcome to join for hands-on making, conversation, and discovery. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members.

10/16 NMWA Nights

WED 5:30–8 P.M. // R

Experience Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter with cocktails, music, art-making, and more. Discover Mattai’s art, meet local embroiderers, and create your own embroidery. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members. Free for members at the Explorer level and above. All members can purchase tickets, even if the event is sold out.

10/16 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

10/20 Closing Day: Fourth-Floor Exhibitions

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // A M

Last call! Make a final visit to a trio of exhibitions in NMWA’s Learning Commons: Hung Liu, Impressive, and Holding Ground.

10/23 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

10/25 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

10/27 The Bigger Picture: Artists’ Actions

SUN 2–3:30 P.M. // R

Learn how artists explore and question identity, politics, the environment, gender, and the nature of art itself through mark-making, performance, and activism. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members. Complimentary tickets for Circles members: call 202-783-7986 to register.

10/30 Gallery Talk WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

November

11/3 Free Community Day

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

11/3 Open Studio

SUN 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

11/3 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 11–11:45 A.M. // F M O

11/3 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 2–2:45 P.M. // F M O

11/6 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

11/9 Firsthand Experience: Plant Portraits

SAT 10 A.M.–3 P.M. // R

In this workshop, scientist-turned-photographer Amy Lamb teaches her methods for cultivating and photographing plants and helps you create your own photographs. Learners ages thirteen and older are welcome; workshop begins at NMWA and concludes at the U.S. Botanic Garden. Digital or mobile phone camera required. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members.

11/13 Free Community Day

WED 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

11/13 Open Studio WED 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

11/13 Gallery Talk WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

11/13

Collection Highlights Tour WED 2–2:45 P.M. // F M O

11/20 Gallery Talk

WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

11/20 NMWA Nights

WED 5:30–8 P.M. // R

Celebrate the opening of Samantha Box: Confluences, which features the artist’s photographs exploring race, gender, class, and sexuality. Enjoy a tour and learn how to improve your own photography. $25 general/ $22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members. Free for members at the Explorer level and above. All members can purchase tickets, even if the event is sold out.

11/22 Art Chat @ Five

FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

December

12/1 Free Community Day

SUN 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

12/1 Makers’ Market

SUN 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

Join us for a special holiday market featuring goods from women and gender-expansive vendors, makers, and artists. Shop handmade jewelry, art, ceramics, and vintage finds in NMWA’s Great Hall.

12/1 Open Studio

SUN 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

12/1 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 11–11:45 A.M. // F M O

12/1 Collection Highlights Tour

SUN 2–2:45 P.M. // F M O

12/4 Gallery Talk WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

12/11 Free Community Day WED 10 A.M.–5 P.M. // F M R

12/11 Open Studio WED 10 A.M.–4 P.M. // F M O

12/11 Collection Highlights Tour WED 2–2:45 P.M. // F M O

12/11 Gallery Talk WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

12/11 Fresh Talk: Suchitra Mattai and Aruna D’Souza WED 6–8 P.M. // R E Artist Suchitra Mattai and writer Aruna D’Souza discuss Mattai’s NMWA exhibition and explore how her art challenges conventional colonialist narratives. Followed by a salon-style cocktail hour. $25 general/$22 students, seniors, D.C. residents/$20 members.

12/18 Gallery Talk WED 12–12:30 P.M. // F M O E

12/27 Art Chat @ Five FRI 5–5:45 P.M. // F M R V

The Women, Arts, and Social Change public programs initiative is made possible through leadership gifts from Denise Littlefield Sobel and the Davis/Dauray Family Fund, with additional support provided by Anne N. Edwards, the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family, and the Susan and Jim Swartz Public Programs Fund. Visit https://nmwa.org for reservations, a complete calendar of events, and more information.

The holiday Makers’ Market returns on December 1 with handmade and vintage goods from local vendors

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

Engage, Activate, Celebrate

NMWA’s Public Programs Return

Kelley Daley and Alicia Perkovich

Janelle Monáe’s R&B tracks played through the speakers as ten drag kings in three-piece suits, fur coats, and opulent jewelry danced down the Mezzanine staircase. They made their way to the center of NMWA’s newly renovated Great Hall, with the marble floor serving as the perfect stage for their performance in front of more than 450 people. The performers are members of Pretty Boi Drag, an award-winning, D.C.-based drag

king troupe whose mission is to uplift and center BIPOC drag kings. Their May 15 appearance was part of NMWA Nights, the museum’s new monthly late-night program. At the May event, in addition to enjoying performances by Pretty Boi Drag, attendees took inspiration from the exhibition New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024 and wore costumes that interpreted their ideas about the meaning of “new worlds.”

Opposite: Members of Pretty Boi Drag pose after their performance at NMWA Nights in May

NMWA Nights: A Late-Night Experience

Each NMWA Nights event is presented in collaboration with a different community partner whose work aligns with the Women, Arts, and Social Change (WASC) mission. These partnerships bring fresh perspectives and innovative programming to the museum, creating a vibrant atmosphere where art, culture, and community intersect. Past community partners include Black Art Library, Aye Girl, and SwapDC.

NMWA Nights is the newest addition to our robust suite of WASC programs meant to elevate diverse voices and cultural perspectives. This dynamic series brings guests together with influential artists, activists, and innovators. As we activate all areas of the museum—inviting attendees to explore our galleries, make art in the studio, and enjoy music in the Great Hall—NMWA Nights is a great way to fully experience the museum. Each program is designed to foster meaningful conversations, ignite new ideas, and create a lively space where art and activism can thrive.

Fresh Talk: Conversations that Shape Our World

Fresh Talk is the cornerstone of the WASC initiative, offering conversations that connect culture and social change. These events feature cause-driven artists, activists, and creators who are making a significant impact on contemporary society. Delving into topics from contemporary art practices

Members at the Explorer ($180) level and above receive guaranteed free admission for two to NMWA Nights! Members at all levels can purchase discounted NMWA Nights tickets, even if the event is sold out.

to emerging cultural trends, Fresh Talks offer attendees a chance to engage with ideas that are influencing our world.

Each Fresh Talk begins with an hour-long conversation in which influential speakers share their insights and experiences. Following this, attendees are invited to a salon-style cocktail hour. This informal setting encourages conversation among guests, fostering connections with fellow attendees and the art on view. Fresh Talks are not just about listening; they are about participating in a vibrant community of thinkers and doers who are passionate about moving culture forward.

At the May 2024 program, Fresh Talk: Conscious Creators, the conversation featured artists and business owners who are focused on ethical and sustainable production. Guests heard about the environmental impacts of the beauty and skincare industry—which produces 120 billion units of plastic a year, most thrown away after a single use—from Kelly Perkins, founder and CEO of Spinster Sisters. Perkins’s company, a woman-owned certified B Corporation, creates

plant-based, low-waste personal care products and contributes to plastic reclamation around the world. Following the conversation, attendees discussed change with the panelists as they enjoyed a cocktail hour where the menu focused on sustainable and ethically sourced options.

Creative’s Keynote: Celebrating Visionary Voices

Another recent addition to our programming is the biannual Creative’s Keynote. These events feature captivating presentations by high-profile speakers from the art and museum fields: women and gender-expansive trailblazers who are redefining how art and culture are perceived, performed, and appreciated. This past year, we were proud to host Katy Hessel, art historian and author of The Story of Art Without Men (2022), and Cecilia Alemani, director and chief curator of High Line Art in New York City and artistic director of the acclaimed 59th Venice Biennale.

In March 2024, Alemani spoke about her curatorial practice, focusing on her historic role in 2022 as curator of the Venice Biennale. Her exhibition featured an unprecedented roster of women and nonbinary artists. The audience was left shocked when Alemani ended her talk by sharing criticism from the Financial Times review of her Biennale presentation, which said, “By choosing almost exclusively women, Alemani has paid a severe price in terms of quality....” Clearly and unfortunately, gender bias persists.

Each Creative’s Keynote is, like our Fresh Talks, followed by a salon-style cocktail hour that fosters connections among guests. These events not only highlight the achievements of visionary leaders, but also inspire attendees to think creatively and critically about the role of art in society. By giving these leaders a megaphone, Creative’s Keynote events aim to drive meaningful change in the art world and beyond.

Makers’ Markets: Get the Goods

Since NMWA’s reopening, we have reintroduced a vibrant world of creativity and entrepreneurship through in-person Makers’ Markets. At these events, women and gender-expansive vendors, makers, and artists sell their products—including unique items such as homemade jewelry, reclaimed wooden frames, handmade ceramics, and vintage finds—in our museum’s Great Hall. These lively markets, held on free-admission Community Days, offer an exciting opportunity for our audience to discover diverse and new vendors. In May, we hosted twenty-one vendors and welcomed more than 800 visitors. This season, we look forward to the return of a Holiday Market in December and our May Makers’ Market in the spring.

Join Us!

At NMWA, public programming is designed to inspire, challenge, and connect. Whether you’re engaging in thought-provoking conversations at a Fresh Talk, celebrating visionary voices during a Creative’s Keynote, or experiencing after-hours art and culture at NMWA Nights, there’s something for everyone. We invite you to join us and be part of a community that values creativity, innovation, and social change. Together, we can continue to elevate the voices and perspectives that are shaping the future of art and culture.

// Kelley Daley is director of public programs and Alicia Perkovich is public programs manager at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

// MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Join us at the museum for these headline programs from the Women, Arts, and Social Change initiative. For a full list of fall programs—including hands-on workshops, talks, tours, and more—check out the calendar on page 14.

NMWA NIGHTS

– Wednesday, September 18: Join us for a new season! This evening, in partnership with poet Alexa Patrick, features spoken-word poetry inspired by the NMWA collection.

– Wednesday, October 16: Enjoy a night centering Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter. Discover Mattai’s work, meet local embroiderers, and try your own hand at embroidery.

– Wednesday, November 20: Join us for the opening day of Samantha Box: Confluences

FRESH TALK

– Wednesday, December 11: Artist Suchitra Mattai appears n conversation with writer Aruna D’Souza, as they explore Mattai’s work and the myth-making power of art.

MAKERS’ MARKET

– Sunday, December 1: Our holiday market returns! Shop women and gender-expansive makers and creators just in time for the end-of-year holidays.

Right: A telegram from Frida

to her mother,

May 7, 1931; Part of NMWA’s Archives of Women Artists, the Nelleke Nix and Marianne Huber Collection: The Frida Kahlo Papers, 1930–1954

gifted the collection to her trusted friend and doctor, Leo Eloesser, in the 1950s. In 1996, years after Eloesser’s death in 1974, artist Nelleke Langhout Nix purchased the materials, and Marianne Huber translated many of them. Nix and Huber donated more than 360 pieces to NMWA in 2007, and the museum received an additional ninety pieces of correspondence in 2022, after Nix passed away.

Archive Transcribea-thon

Frida Kahlo Papers

Dominique

Manuel

On May 18, NMWA’s Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center (LRC) hosted an archive transcribe-a-thon. We enlisted the help of the public to improve the accessibility of one of the archive’s most popular collections, the Nelleke Nix and Marianne Huber Collection: The Frida Kahlo Papers, 1930–1954

Bringing the Letters to Light

This collection consists of more than 450 pieces of correspondence written to or by the famed artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), various drawings, and printed matter. Kahlo

In 2022, NMWA received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to help increase the museum’s digital accessibility. Part of the grant is dedicated to the Archives of Women Artists, housed in the LRC. As the archives are currently only accessible via in-person appointments, the grant supports transcribing the collections and uploading them to NMWA’s website, where they will be compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies. During archive transcribe-a-thons, individuals come together to transcribe primary-source materials, converting handwritten text into typed text. Holding this public event proved to be a great way for NMWA to achieve the IMLS grant goals, while also engaging our community in the museum’s collection.

On the day of the event, participants brought their own laptops and, after a brief tutorial, were each assigned a letter to transcribe, working by themselves or in groups. To protect the delicate documents, participants were given photocopies of the original letters, but several original copies (in protective coverings) were displayed nearby, alongside select books about Kahlo from the LRC’s collection.

Participants expressed excitement about having access to these historically significant documents, which provide insight into Kahlo’s personal life, travels, and friendships. By the end of the event, the twenty-five attendees had transcribed ninety-seven pages of correspondence.

This program is just one of many steps we are taking toward a more accessible NMWA. Stay tuned for more interactive programs in the future.

// Dominique Manuel is digital asset manager at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Museum News

NMWA’s New Café

The Mezzanine Café, operated by Little Food Studio, is now open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors can expect an array of freshly prepared grab-and-go offerings. The menu features a selection of sandwiches, salads, snacks, and pastries, along with refreshing hot and cold beverages including juices, coffee, tea, and sodas.

Little Food Studio, a local women-owned and -operated business, was created by Chef Danielle Harris, whose culinary expertise has been shaped by the women in her family as well as her work alongside renowned chefs in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

NMWA members receive a 10% discount in the Mezzanine Café. Enjoy this benefit along with your treats when you present your membership card at checkout.

Save the date for a great celebration at NMWA’s next Spring Gala!

Spring Gala 2025: Save the Date

NMWA’s next Spring Gala takes place on April 11, 2025. The gala is the museum’s most important fundraiser, gathering patrons, artists, and enthusiasts to honor women in the arts. For questions or information, contact gala@nmwa.org

Roam If You Want To

Are you a frequent traveler, or do you live far from Washington, D.C.? Members at the Explorer ($180) level and above enjoy reciprocal benefits such as free admission at museums participating in the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association and the Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM) network. Find out more at https://nmwa. org/support/membership

Enjoy sandwiches, salads, baked goods, coffee, and more at the reimagined Mezzanine Café

Planned Giving

The Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay Legacy Society honors friends who designate the museum as a beneficiary in their estate plans. Like the museum's founders, members of the Legacy Society have an enormous impact, ensuring that NMWA continues to offer trailblazing programs and advocate for women artists well into the future. Contact Christina Knowles at 202-783-7984 or cknowles@nmwa.org to learn more.

Supporting Roles

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Winton S. Holladay—Chair of the Board, Susan Goldberg—President, Lucretia Adymy Risoleo—Treasurer and Finance Chair, Charlotte Buxton— Secretary, Karen Sonneborn— Governance Chair, 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 Nelson Stevenson—Works of Art Chair, Diane Casey-Landry—Investment Chair, Gina Adams, Janice Adams, Belinda de Gaudemar, Deborah Dingell, Martha Lyn Dippell, Nancy Duber, Susan Dunlevy, Anjali Gupta, Pamela Gwaltney, Eliza Holladay, Cindy Jones, Marlene Malek, Ann Walker Marchant, Jacqueline Badger Mars, Juliana May, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Stephanie Sale, Julie Sapone**, Alejandra Segura, Sheila Shaffer, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Annie Totah, Sarah Treco**, Sara M. Vance Waddell, Alice West, Patti White ** Ex-Officio

NMWA ADVISORY BOARD

Sarah Bucknell Treco—Chair, Noreen Ackerman, Kathe Hicks Albrecht, Sunny Scully Alsup, Susan M. Ascher, Virginia Barbato, Jo Ann Barefoot, Gail Bassin, Arlene Begelman, Sue Ann Berlin, Catherine Little Bert, Brenda Bertholf, Caroline Boutté, Nancy Taylor Bubes, Deborah G. Carstens, Barbara Cohen, Marcella Cohen, Marian Cohen, Donna Paolino Coia, Robyn D. Collins, Margaret Conklin, Lizette Corro, Elizabeth Crane, Lynn Finesilver Crystal, Elizabeth Cullen, Mary Lou Dauray, Verónica de Ferrero, Belinda de Gaudemar, Kitty de Isola, Michele De Nevers, Katy Graham Debost, Alexis Deutsch, Ellen Drew, Kenneth P. Dutter, Christine Edwards, Anne N. Edwards, Gerry Ehrlich, Elva Ferrari-Graham, Chuck Fleischman, in honor of Lisa Claudy Fleischman, Charlotte K. Forster, Rosemarie C. Forsythe, Barbara S. Goldfarb, Sally Gries, Anjali Gupta, Ilene S. Gutman, Pamela Gwaltney, Florencia Helbling, Sue J. Henry, Imogene Jensen, Jan Jessup, Alice Kaplan, Paulette Kessler, Arlene Fine Klepper, Doris Kloster, Carol Kolsky, Robin Rosa Laub, Cynthia Madden Leitner,

Sarah H. Lisanby, M.D., Fred M. Levin, Bonnie Loeb, Gloria and Dan Logan, Angela M. LoRé, Clara M. Lovett, Joanne Ludovici, Marcia MacArthur, Linda Mann, C. Raymond Marvin, Rebecca Matejcek-Chang, Ellen Stirn Mavec, Dee Ann McIntyre, Cynthia McKee, Constance C. McPhee, Lorna Meyer Calas, Anu Mitra, Milica Mitrovich, Mary V. Mochary, Claudia Pensotti Mosca, Kay Woodward Olson, Nancy Olson, Monica T. O’Neill, Carol Parker, Anthony T. and Trisja Malisoff Podesta, Laurel Rafter, Lucy Rhame, Helena Ribe, Barbara Richter, Elizabeth Robinson, Tara Rudman, Stephanie Sale, Consuelo Salinas de Pareja, Steven Scott, Kathy Sierra, Ann Simon, Geri Skirkanich, Heidi Brake Smith, Dot Snyder, Denise Littlefield Sobel, Patti Amanda Spivey, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Pamela Stanger, Judith Karlen Stein, Sara Steinfeld, Jo Stribling, Christine Suppes, Susan Swartz, Cheryl S. Tague, Mahinder Tak, Judy Spence Tate, Lisa Cannon Taylor, MaryRoss Taylor, Brooke Taylor, Deborah Dunklin Tipton, Marichu Valencia, Sara M. Vance Waddell, Minal Vazirani, Victoria Vermes, Toni G. Verstandig, Virginia Voorhees, Paula S. Wallace, Harriet L. Warm, Krystyna Wasserman, Patti White, Tamara White, Carol Winer, Rhett D. Workman, Susan Zimny

SPACE TO SOAR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

We wish to thank supporters of the Space to Soar capital campaign, whose generosity enabled the museum’s major building renovation. Although we can only list donations of $20,000 and above due to space limitations, we extend sincere gratitude to all donors.

$15 million+

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

$5–$14.9 million

Gloria and Dan Logan/Revada Foundation, Jacqueline Badger Mars

$2–$4.9 million

Marcia Myers Carlucci, Betty Boyd Dettre*, Events DC,

Ann M. Farley Trust, Denise Littlefield Sobel, MaryRoss Taylor

$1–$1.9 million

Winton and Hap Holladay, Clara M. Lovett, Marlene A. Malek, Estate of Evelyn B. Metzger, Sue J. Henry and Carter G. Phillips, J. Christopher and Anne N. Reyes Foundation, San Francisco Advocacy Group, Dr. Alejandra Segura, Susan and Jim Swartz, The Texas Committee, Estate of Susan Wisherd

$500,000–$999,999

David Boies and Jonathan Schiller, Mary Lou Dauray, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Martha Lyn Dippell and Daniel L. Korengold, Cindy and Evan Jones, Fred M. Levin in memory of Nancy Livingston Levin, The Honorable Mary V. Mochary, Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., Lucy S. Rhame, George and Patti White

$250,000–$499,999

Nancy and Marc Duber, Elva FerrariGraham, Jamie Gorelick and Richard Waldhorn, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Gloria Pieretti* in honor of the Testolin Pieretti Family, Linda Rabbitt and John Whalen Family Foundation, Sheila and Rick Shaffer, Geri O’Toole Skirkanich, Christine Suppes, Alice and Gordon* West Jr.

$101,000–$249,999

M. A. Ruda and Peter J. P. Brickfield*, Charlotte Forster, Georgia Committee of NMWA, Anjali and Arun Gupta, Nancy Wood Moorman, Amanda and Curtis Polk, Laurel and John Rafter, Tara Rudman, Stephanie Wyndam Sale, Jayne Visser and Kristin Smith, Dana* and Jack Snyder, Susan and Scott Sterling

$100,000

Janice and Harold L.* Adams, Arkansas State Committee, Amy and Bret Baier, Grace Bender, Charlotte Clay Buxton and Michael Buxton, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Lorna Meyer Calas and Dennis Calas, Andrea and Richard Catania, Evonne C. and Robert T. Connolly, II, Ashley Davis and Joel Frushone, Lisa and Porter Dawson, Anne N. Edwards, FedEx/ Gina Adams, Charles and Lisa Claudy Fleischman Family Fund, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Belinda de Gaudemar, Pamela Gwaltney, Laurie Sands Harrison, The Hayes Foundation, Diane CaseyLandry and Brock Landry, Mary Ann and Allen Lassiter, Lugano Diamonds, Kristen and George Lund, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust Company,

Ohio Advisory Group, Kay Woodward Olson, Anthony T. and Trisja Malisoff Podesta, Lucretia Adymy Risoleo and Robert Risoleo, Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation in Memory of Arlene Schnitzer, Karen and William Sonneborn, Kathleen Elizabeth Springhorn, Christoph and Pamela Stanger, Roger and Nancy Nelson Stevenson, Josephine L. and Thomas D.* Stribling, Leo Rosner Foundation/Bill Robbins, Judy and Charles Tate, Deborah Dunklin Tipton

$50,000–$99,999

Bank of America of Greater Washington, Deborah G. Carstens, Susan Goldberg and Geoffrey Etnire, Robin and Jay Hammer, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Reed Miller, Julie Packard, Sharon Rockefeller, Jean Hall and Thomas D. Rutherfoord, Jr., Beth W. Newburger Schwartz, Patti Amanda and Bruce Spivey, UK Friends of NMWA, Marichu C. Valencia and Donald J. Puglisi, Amy Weiss and Peter J. Kadzik

$20,000–$49,999

Gail D. Bassin, Joan Bialek and Louis Levitt, Katherine and David Bradley, Deborah Buck, Rose and Paul Carter, Marcy and Neil Cohen, Robyn D. Collins, Liz and Tim Cullen, Karyn Frist, Jan Jessup, Alice D. Kaplan, Mr. and Mrs. Jim C. Langdon, Marcia MacArthur, Priscilla W. and Joe R. Martin, Robin Rosa Laub, Bonnie Loeb, Angela M. LoRé, Lowe Foundation, Dee Ann McIntyre, Mid-Atlantic Committee of NMWA, Monica O’Neill, Laura Perkins, Margaret H. and Jim Perkins, Mary Poelzlbauer, Dorothy and Ned Snyder, Alice M. Starr, Brooke and Heyward Taylor, Frances Luessenhop Usher, Sara M. and Michelle Vance Waddell, Courtney Johnson Walker, Velda Warner, Daisy Sloan White, Emily Gay* and Neville Gay Williams, Carol and Michael Winer, Carolyn and John Young

* Deceased

(all lists as of August 1)

Museum Shop

Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter Exhibition Catalogue

This fully illustrated catalogue features Mattai’s powerful art alongside an essay by critic Aruna D’Souza and a conversation with the artist. Softcover, 112 pages. $27.95/Member $25.16

Embroidered Coin Pouch

Keep small items handy, organized, and secure with this embroidered canvas pouch. 5 x 3 ½ in. $15/Member $13.50

Sweater Jacket

This oversized sweater jacket features a wide shawl collar with attached scarf, open front, tapered sleeves, and seamless side pockets. 90% cotton, 10% wool. One size. $130/Member $117

Petite Trinket Dish

The design on this dish was inspired by vintage flea market finds and the Victorian era. Decorative use only. 3 ¾ in. diameter. $15/Member $13.50

Kantha Wrap Bracelet

Kantha beads, made from cotton sari scraps, are separated by brass spacers and wrapped around an adjustable memory wire base. Each end is embellished with three dangling beads. Colors vary. $29/Member $26.10

Jeweled Hair Clip

These handmade hair clips combine botanical designs with vintage inspiration. 3 ⅛ in. long. $24.38/Member $21.94

Autumn Mood Cross Stitch Kit

Cozy up with this owl-themed cross stitch kit. Intermediate level. 5 in. diameter. $25/ Member $22.50

National Museum of Women in the Ar ts: Collection Highlights

The museum’s new collection highlights catalogue explores the breadth of NMWA’s holdings, drawing connections among more than 180 works and sharing new essays by artists and scholars. Hardcover, 264 pages. $60/Member $54

1250 New York Avenue NW Washington, DC 20005-3970

// COMING SOON

Samantha Box

Confluences

November 20, 2024–March 23, 2025

Bronx-based photographer Samantha Box (b. 1977, Kingston, Jamaica) navigates social and cultural landscapes through complex images exploring race, gender, class, and sexuality. Black-and-white documentary photographs from her series “Invisible” depict New York City’s unhoused LGBTQIA+ youth of color. The series reveals community-defined spaces and chosen family bonds that work to counter her subjects’ experiences with homophobia and transphobia. In vibrant staged images, Box’s ongoing studio-based series “Caribbean Dreams” shifts inward, as the artist articulates her own diasporic Indo-Afro-Caribbean identity through personal and historical narratives.