The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) will reopen this autumn after being closed for more than two years for renovations.
The NMWA announced it will reopen on October 21, 2023, after closing for massive renovations in August 2021.
“NMWA has a distinctive role in the art world. As both a museum and a megaphone, we advocate for gender equity through excellence in the arts,” NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling said in a press release. “We have continued to do this work virtually and off-site during our closure, but we are really looking forward to reopening our building this fall. Our renewed and reimagined spaces will enhance our ability to share great works of art, engage with our visitors and reach out to new audiences.”
The renovations to the NMWA are part of a $67.5 million project marking the first large-scale updates to the museum since its opening in 1987. Among the updates, The NMWA is enlarging the museum’s gallery by more than 20%, a new Learning Commons, and an updated Research Library and Performance Hall.
Upon its October reopening, the NMWA will celebrate its return with its inaugural exhibition, “The Sky’s The Limit,” which will highlight “women’s pioneering work in large-scale sculpture.”
“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,” according to the press release. “Sculptures will be suspended from the ceiling, arc across walls and project outward from corners, inspiring close encounters with artworks.”
However, amid the renovations still underway, the NMWA is continuing to envelop the building in eye-catching murals and art installations.
Now, the NMWA is a stunning mesh installation by Austrian artist, Katharina Cibulka. A printed representation of her artwork for the Solange Project (Solange #27) cross-stitch in pink tulle, the installation reads, “As long as generations change but our struggles stay the same, I will be a feminist.”
“Cibulka and her team developed a sentence for NMWA that spotlights marginalized groups who must repeatedly, across generations, demand equal rights,” the NMWA wrote on Instagram.
Previously, the work of muralist Cita Sadeli, also known as MISS CHELOVE, “Reseeded: A Forest Floor Flow” encased the building in a mesh fabric, portraying a woman surrounded by plants and wildlife.
According to the NMWA, “The artist’s image of a woman surrounded by plants native to the islands of Indonesia alludes to the resurgence of the natural world during the pandemic and the critical role of women in ecological activism.”
While the museum is closed, virtual exhibits and experiences are available via its website.
You can see the installation at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20005.