National Museum of Women in the Arts

06/19/2026

Red is often associated with Juneteenth, but do you know why? ❤️

The color red pays important homage to the African diaspora. Often seen in celebratory foods and drinks, it symbolizes the bloodshed and sacrifices made by enslaved Black Americans. Red is also seen as a royal color in African society, representing transition and power.

Artist Alma Woodsey Thomas was born in 1891 in Columbus, Georgia. In 1907, her family moved to Washington, DC, seeking relief from racial violence in the South. Though segregated, the nation’s capital still offered more opportunities for African Americans than most cities in those years. In 1924, Thomas began a 35-year career teaching art at a DC junior high school.

Thomas developed her signature style of large, abstract paintings filled with dense, irregular patterns of bright colors in her 70s after she retired from teaching. In many of her late paintings, Thomas focused on a single color. For her work “Orion,” she explained that the choice of red shades and tones is meant to evoke the power required to break from earth’s gravity.

Artwork credit: Alma Woodsey Thomas, “Orion,” 1973; © Estate of Alma Thomas (Courtesy of the Hart Family)/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

[Image description: Red painted canvas covered with small white brushstrokes.]

06/16/2026

Online Exhibition: Q***r Activism in the Arts

Take a closer look at five influential artists from the museum’s collection who have pushed boundaries and inspired others through their art!

Q***r Activism in the Arts Online Exhibition Take a closer look at five influential artists from the museum's collection who have pushed boundaries and inspired others through their art. Highlights Rosa Bonheur Nan Goldin Zanele Muholi Alice Austen Bere...

06/12/2026

There are two weeks left to see “Shirley Gorelick: Figuring It Out” at NMWA!

🎟️ Reserve museum admission: nmwa.org/tickets

Known for her sensitive depictions of subjects who were not traditionally represented in large-scale portraiture, Shirley Gorelick (1924 to 2000) developed her own approach to figurative painting. After extensive exploration of modernist abstraction, Gorelick distinguished herself in the 1960s and 1970s with nuanced depictions of close friends and family, which she called “psychological portraiture.” Rather than flatter, the artist captured her subjects in informal poses, emphasizing subtle gestures and facial expressions that imbued her portraits with a sense of immediacy and relatability.

[Image descriptions: Five figure paintings of different subjects in varying skin tones, some realistic and some gestural.]

06/11/2026

As the temperature continues to climb, we’re here to remind you that NMWA is the perfect spot to cool off on a summer day. 🌻

Reserve advanced museum admission online! nmwa.org/tickets

Photos via Instagram:
Catiehiggins
Ed2collective
Hangrix
Kiersten.cole666
Stephanieakimou
Lexipolitan

06/09/2026

Political activist and artist May Stevens was born on this day in 1924! 🌟

May Stevens (1924 to 2019) believed that art must be used for social commentary, not just personal expression. This outlook was influenced by the poverty and lack of opportunities for women that she witnessed around her. Stevens engaged with the Civil Rights Movement, leading to a 1964 exhibition called “Freedom Riders,” for which Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote the catalogue introduction. She was a founding member of both the feminist Heresies Collective and the Guerrilla Girls.

Artwork credit: May Stevens, “Ordinary/Extraordinary,” 1980; © May Stevens and Ryan Lee Gallery, New York

[Image description: An open artist’s book displaying black-and-white illustrations on both pages.]

06/06/2026

To celebrate , we’re sharing five q***r women artists you should know. Check out their artworks on view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts! 🌈
 
Rosa Bonheur (1822 to 1899) built a life that did not fit within the boundaries of societal norms in 19th-century France. She achieved a successful career and has served as a role model for future generations of women artists.
 
The semi-abstract imagery of Harmony Hammond (b. 1944) alludes to both personal and political content. In addition to her work as an artist, Hammond is an influential art theorist and writer and a pioneer of the Feminist Art Movement.
 
Etel Adnan (1925 to 2021) and Simone Fattal (b. 1942) were long-time partners and are both featured in the “Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” exhibition. Working separately and together, their multidisciplinary art spans painting, sculpture, poetry, and publishing.
 
Julie Mehretu (b. 1970), also in “Making Their Mark,” uses richly painted and layered abstraction to explore geopolitical topics. Her work builds on past and present lived experiences, including migration, revolution, and technology.
 
[Video description: Short clips of five artworks by five different artists ranging from painting to sculpture.]

06/03/2026

Let's light a candle in honor of book artist Carol Barton's birthday! 📖

During her residency at the Bogliasco villa in Genoa, Italy, Barton (b. 1954) visited many towers, studying the architectural elements and the functions they served throughout history. This inspired her to create “Five Luminous Towers.” The artist’s book opens to display five pop-up towers amidst cityscapes, each illuminated by a tiny bulb, inviting viewers to a nocturnal reading of Barton’s poems. 🌟

Artwork credit: Carol June Barton, “Five Luminous Towers: A Book to be Read in the Dark,” 2001; © Carol Barton

[Image description: Two views from different pages of a pop-up artist’s book.]

05/29/2026

Most people are probably familiar with Jackson Po***ck’s drip paintings, but did you know that Janet Sobel was doing the exact same thing before Po***ck in the 1940s? 👀 Let’s talk about it!  
 
Artwork and photo credits:  
Janet Sobel, Untitled, ca. 1946 
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, “Clement Greenberg,” 1982© 1982 Timothy Greenfield-Sanders 
 
[Video description: Clips of a NMWA staff member speaking in front of an abstract painting in a gallery combined with still images and screenshots of articles.].

05/28/2026

Welcome to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, where the first work you’re greeted with is by Indigenous Australian artist Audrey Morton Kngwarreye! 🌿  
 
In “Alpeyt—Wild Flowers,” Kngwarreye (b. ca. 1952) interprets an acacia plant, called “alpeyt” in the artist’s language group. Its seeds were long used as a food source for Indigenous Australian communities. In the 1970s and 1980s, Kngwarreye participated in batik workshops related to the Land Rights Movement, in which Aboriginal people sought to sustain their culture and reclaim their homelands. Batik is a centuries-old textile art form that uses a wax-resist dyeing technique on fabric. In addition to batik, members of these communities began to make paintings, with women artists quickly becoming a dynamic force in contemporary Australian art. 
 
Artwork credit: Audrey Morton Kngwarreye, “Alpeyt—Wild Flowers,” 1999; © Audrey Morton Kngwarreye 
 
[Video description: Multiple short clips of a painting in NMWA’s Great Hall, depicting multiple versions of the same plant in a Pointillist style.]

05/27/2026

In honor of our 2026 campaign and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are highlighting 5 artists in our collection!

1. Book artist and instructor Julie Chen (b. 1963) is known for her innovative use of non-traditional structures and high level of craftsmanship.

2. Deborah Paauwe’s (b. 1972) interest in photography began when she took a series of self-portraits in her youth. By concealing the expressions of her subjects' faces through tight cropping, they blur the line between innocent and sensual.

3. Jiha Moon (b. 1973) is known for her blend of traditional materials and pop culture iconography. She is interested in creating images that can be read differently by people with different backgrounds.

4. Nhat Tran (b. 1962) specializes in urushi lacquer painting, an ancient organic medium that flows from the sap of trees growing only in East Asia: “[it] gives me the sense of communing both with my eastern past and with my adopted western culture.”

5. Yunghi Kim (b. 1962) is a photojournalist who has spent the last 39 years covering conflicts and in-depth, issue-driven stories all over the world. Her career began at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, MA, where she was the first woman photographer hired in the photography department.

[Image descriptions: Five artworks in different mediums by five different artists in NMWA’s collection.]