Empowering Women Artists

The NMWA in Washington will reopen with grand new exhibition spaces in October this year with largescale sculptures by 12 artists

- Aruna Rathod

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington was envisioned by the late Wilhelmina Cole Holladay. She and her husband, Wallace, purchased the building in 1983 and transformed it into a unique museum for women artists.

The museum was closed for extensive restoration and will reopen on October 21, 2023 with a special exhibition focused on women’s pioneering work in large-scale sculpture.

The transformed museum will feature new exhibition spaces, re-envisioned public programming areas, improved amenities and increased accessibility for visitors at its historic home at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, in Washington, D.C. In addition to an expansive reinstallation of the collection, NMWA will present an inaugural exhibition, The Sky’s the Limit, featuring powerful monumental sculpture and immersive installations by a dozen contemporary women artists, in an innovative presentation not possible prior to the renovation.

On view October 21, 2023, through February 25, 2024, The Sky’s the Limit presents artworks by 12 artists, including Petah Coyne, Cornelia Parker, Mariah Robertson, Shinique Smith, Joana Vasconcelos and Ursula von Rydingsvard. Sculpture will be suspended from the ceiling, arc across walls and project outward from corners, inspiring close encounters with artworks.