National Museum of Women in the Arts

Founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the first museum solely dedicated to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum’s collection features 5,000 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 1,000 artists, including Mary Cassatt, Frida Kahlo, Alma Thomas, Lee Krasner, Louise Bourgeois, Chakaia Booker, and Nan Goldin, along with special collections of 18th-century silver tableware, botanical prints, and artists’ books.

NWMA brings recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments. To fulfill its mission, the museum cares for and displays its collection, presents special exhibitions, conducts education programs, maintains the Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center, publishes a member magazine and books on women artists, and supports a network of state and international committees. NMWA also serves as a center for the performing and literary arts and other creative disciplines. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House.