Women's Museums and the Fight for Gender Equality in Art

Introduction: The NMWA and Its Mission

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., is a museum specifically focused on bringing a gender-focused lens to the achievements of women across artistic fields — whether literature, visual art, or performance art. The museum highlights the achievements of women artists by collecting and showcasing paintings and sculptures (the museum boasts a collection of over 4,500 objects created by women), presenting ten world-class exhibitions of women artists each year, operating a publishing house, programming concerts, films, and staged performances, educating the public, and sponsoring committees around the world dedicated to advocating for female artists (NMWA, 2015).

While the museum is clearly dedicated to supporting the voice of women and their artistic expressions, it also raises important questions about gender within the wider scope of the global and historical artistic and cultural experience — not only of modern society but of societies throughout time. The museum did not open until 1987, after the Women's Movement in the U.S. had been underway for a considerable number of years. Therefore, its achievement in serving as a spotlight for women artists is relatively recent, and its impact on the artistic world must be assessed through an in-depth analysis of both what the museum does and what it — alongside other efforts such as the International Museum of Women — means for art and women in general.

The mission of the National Museum of Women in the Arts is to bring "recognition to the achievements of women artists of all periods and nationalities by exhibiting, preserving, acquiring, and researching art by women and by teaching the public about their accomplishments" (NMWA, 2015). It thus addresses what it calls a "gender imbalance" in the way art is presented in the modern world, and by focusing solely on the contributions of female artists, the museum aims to close the gap between attention given to works by men and attention given to works by women. The museum acts as an extension of the Women's Movement by expanding the core issues of that movement — gender equality — into the realm of the arts, promoting a more level playing field by bringing attention to works by female artists. For this reason, the museum houses thousands of works by women and promotes educational material for those interested in what it means to be a woman in art.

Challenging the Gender Gap in Art

One of the ways in which the museum raises awareness is through the presentation of provocative questions to its audience, such as "Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?" (Guerrilla Girls, 2012). The question challenges the notion that women in artistic presentation must serve as sex symbols or objects of the "male gaze," as Mulvey (1975) described it (p. 7). The point the museum makes is that women in the modern era continue to be objectified; as the Guerrilla Girls note, "less than 4% of the artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 76% of the nudes are female" (Guerrilla Girls, 2012). By housing works of art that better represent womanhood in the creative realm rather than the objectified realm, the museum looks to close the gender gap in art.

As the NMWA notes, "Art is a reflection of society." If society objectifies women while rendering their contributions to artistic expression null and void, then those who seek a more balanced and representative reflection of the world must labor — as the museum does — to give voice and outlet to women artists. With exhibitions featuring the works of over 1,000 female artists, the NMWA promotes women's rights in the arts community and devotes itself to reshaping the way the world is reflected by giving women a greater and more visible role in that reflective process. Exhibitions include works such as Priya Pereira's Contemporary Artists' Books from India, pop-ups by Colette Fu, and prints by Alison Saar. The museum also maintains 16th–17th century, 18th–19th century, 20th century, and contemporary collections, all of which constitute the over 4,000 works it holds.

The museum also provides workshops for individuals, teachers, and schools, as well as public events that serve to promote the goal of ridding the art world of gender bias. These include Free Community Days (when the museum is open to the public at no charge), Reading Club sessions (requiring reservations, during which participants read and discuss literature by women writers), Gallery Talk days (open to the public, led by the museum's curatorial assistant), writing workshops, and festivals featuring live performances by female artists. Each of these events, workshops, and exhibitions supports the museum's mission to promote women's equality.

Historical Context: Women's Place in Art and Society

Historically speaking, the NMWA's endeavor is somewhat revolutionary, as it challenges the age-old patriarchal system of artistic development. As the NMWA itself states, "for centuries, social conventions limited the training available to women artists, the subjects they could render, and the ways they could market art to patrons" (Advocate, 2015). This gender bias, rooted in the hegemony of the patriarchal society that dominated Western culture for centuries, began to be exposed by the Women's Movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Throughout history, the role of women has largely been relegated to the domestic sphere. With a few notable exceptions — such as the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, where women played a much more dominant and influential role in political and social life compared to Athens, where a woman's "place" was the home — women have mostly led lives of domestic activity, even when their talents were sufficient to produce works of art deserving of recognition alongside those of men. Female writers, for instance, often adopted masculine pseudonyms in order to get their work published, as women writers were not considered serious. Writers like Aphra Behn, George Sand, and Emily Dickinson had to challenge the system, change their names, or remain unpublished for the duration of their lifetimes. Dickinson's fame came only after her death, when the majority of her poems were found under her bed in a box by her sister-in-law.

Conclusion

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a museum dedicated to affirming and promoting the role of women in the field of arts. Its aim is to close the gender gap that exists in this field and that has existed for centuries. In doing so, it expresses the significance of women in culture and in society. Museums like the NMWA and the International Museum of Women demonstrate that there is a genuine need for dedicated women's museums, as they serve as the next evolution of the Women's Movement — which first gained ground by tackling politics and which today takes further steps by expanding into the socio-cultural realm and putting women forward in an exercise of gender equality.

The existence of museums around the world dedicated to promoting women artists and women's roles in history and society shows how far global culture has come from the days when a patriarchal world was dominated by a male-oriented culture. While that same orientation may still persist in many quarters, the role of women's museums is clearly challenging it in a distinct and public manner.

References

Advocate. (2015). NMWA advocates for women artists — and you can, too. Retrieved from http://www.nmwa.org/advocate

Guerrilla Girls. (2012). National Museum of Women in the Arts. Retrieved from

Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6–18.

NMWA. (2015). About. National Museum of Women in the Arts. Retrieved from http://www.nmwa.org/about

Offen, K., & Colton, E. (2007). The International Museum of Women. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.