WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Museum of Women in the Arts reopens to the public on Saturday, August 1. With guidance from the D.C. government, D.C. Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the museum has developed new cleaning, safety, health and operational protocols. A maximum of 200 visitors per day are allowed, and advance purchase of a timed ticket is strongly encouraged. On most days, the museum’s hours of operation remain unchanged. Extended hours are planned on select dates.
Committed to the well-being of visitors, staff and volunteers, NMWA created an Operations Planning Task Force in April 2020. The group has worked to develop reopening guidelines in accordance with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Phase 2 reopening plan for museums. The task force is also employing recommendations from the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors.
“I am looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the museum—socially distanced, with my mask and gloves on, and hand sanitizer by my side,” said NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling. “It will be great to have people in our galleries once again. Our collection is beckoning and well worth the visit. We also are gratified to share the exhibition of Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico, which has been extended through August 23, 2020. These poetic and intensely beautiful photographs are an uplifting tribute to the rich and varied cultures of her homeland. We are pleased that visitors will be able to experience all the art in our building in person in a safe manner.”
In-person gallery talks, tours and public programs are canceled for the upcoming months.
ON VIEW
Spotlight Installation
Return to Nature
Despite the fact that women were integral participants in the development of nature photography, scholars largely ignored their contributions until the 1970s. With work by Imogen Cunningham, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Rineke Dijkstra, Justine Kurland, Amy Lamb, Ruth Orkin and others, this exhibition of modern and contemporary photographs reflects the extraordinary contributions of women artists. Some treat plant specimens from the perspective of an artist-scientist, while others apply a modernist sensibility, concentrating on line, contour and value contrast. Lush landscapes alternately serve as personal remembrances of distinctive spaces or stages on which models enact intriguing narratives.
Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico
Extended through August 23, 2020
Lyrical and provocative black-and-white images by celebrated photographer Graciela Iturbide (b. 1942) capture the rich tapestry of cultures, daily rituals, social inequalities and coexistence of tradition and modernity across Mexican society. In this major presentation of work from throughout the artist’s five-decade-long career, Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico tells a visual story of the country since the late 1960s. Approximately 140 photographs reveal the lifestyle of the Seri people living in the Sonoran Desert, the exploitation of workers among the Mixtec of Oaxaca, and the vital role of women in Zapotec communities. Iturbide’s empathetic approach to photography reflects her deep connection to her subjects and offers powerful insight into the beauty and complexities of Mexico’s cultural heritage.
New York Avenue Sculpture Project: Betsabeé Romero
Through September 20, 2020
The dynamic works of Mexico City-based artist Betsabeé Romero (b. 1963) form the newest chapter in NMWA’s public art program, the New York Avenue Sculpture Project, established in 2010. Signals of a Long Road Together comprises four sculptures developed expressly for this installation.
