National Museum of Women in the Arts

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), founded in 1981 and opened in 1987, is the only museum dedicated solely to celebrating the achievements of women in the visual, performing and literary arts. The museum’s permanent collection features 3,000 works from the 16th century to the present created by more than 800 artists; including Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Lee Krasner and Louise Bourgeois, along with special collections of 18th-century silver tableware and botanical prints. The museum also conducts multidisciplinary programs for diverse audiences and maintains a Library and Research Center which is accessible to the public. NMWA is located at 1250 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., in a landmark building near the White House. It is open Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday, noon–5 p.m. For information, call 202-783-5000 or visit the museum’s Web site at www.nmwa.org .

To receive regular updates on museum events, please send an email to [email protected] with "NMWA updates" as the subject line.
Exhibitions

The National Museum of Women in the Arts at 20:
Selections from the Archives
1/1/2007 - 12/31/2007
Through photographs, original posters, and historical objects gleaned from the museum's institutional archives as well as paintings from the permanent collection, this exhibition ..s the museum's achievements over the past twenty years. The exhibition, hung in the Great Hall, was curated by Jason Stieber, NMWA archivist.
$8 adults, $6 students/visitors 60 and over, free for NMWA members/youth 18 Frida Kahlo: Public Image, Private Life. A Selection of Photographs and Letters
July 6, 2007 - October 14, 2007
Celebrating Kahlo’s 100th birthday, the exhibition includes the museum’s prized possession, Kahlo’s Self-portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky, 23 photographs of Kahlo by various artists, 10 of Kahlo’s unpublished personal letters to family and friends from The Nelleke Nix and Marianne Huber Collection: The Frida Kahlo Papers and 12 never-before-seen photographs of Kahlo’s private bathroom at the Casa Azul. Among the photographs will be a new collection of images by Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide of Kahlo’s private bathroom at the Casa Azul and its contents, which were sealed until fifty years after her death. The combination of these materials will provide a stimulating context for exploring the relationship between Frida’s colorful, mexicanista image and the difficult realities of her personal life.This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Latino Center and the Mexican Cultural Institute.
Admission: $10 adults, $8 students/visitors 60 and over, free for NMWA members/youth 18.

Films
Sisters in Cinema: Florence Ayisi
8/29/2007 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Our summer Sisters in Cinema offering also involves some fascinating and compelling Sisters in Law (2005, 104 min.) from Cameroonian director Florence Ayisi (co-directed with award-winning documentarian Kim Longinotto). In the little town of Kumba, Cameroon, there have been no convictions in spousal abuse cases for 17 years. But two women determined to change their community are making progress that could change the world. This fascinating, often hilarious doc follows the work of State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba as they help women fight often-difficult cases of abuse, despite pressures from family and their community to remain silent. Six-year-old Manka is covered in scars and has run away from an abusive aunt, Amina is seeking a divorce to put an end to brutal beatings by her husband, the pre-teen Sonita has daringly accused her neighbor of rape. With fierce compassion, the two feisty and progressive-minded women dispense wisdom, wisecracks and justice in fair measure, handing down stiff sentences to those convicted. A cross between "Judge Judy" and "The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency," SISTERS IN LAW has audiences cheering when justice is served. General: $5. Students, Seniors and Members: $4. Reservations recommended. Call 202-783-7370 or email [email protected]

Coming September 25-30, 2007 - NMWA's 20th Anniversary Festival of Women's Film and Media Arts! Film Fest

The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
8/30/07 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Amy Stechler's biography, The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo (2005, 90 min.) explores the two sides of Kahlo by balancing her private life filled with physical pain and her renowned, Mexicanist public persona. The film shows intersection of ancient Mexican culture and the Mexican revolution through the eyes of the artist, as well as the resulting revitalization of popular culture for which she became a symbol. The film was shot in Mexico, where Kahlo lived and worked with sites including her home—the Casa Azul, and San Idelfonso, where Kahlo attended the famous Preparatoria school. Free with admission to the museum.
Free with admission to the museum.