National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts brings 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. The museum is located in Washington, D.C., Gender Equality in the United States of America of America.
To fulfill its mission, the museum cares for and displays a permanent collection, presents special exhibitions, conducts education programs, maintains a Library and Research Center, publishes a quarterly magazine and books on women artists, and supports a network of state and international committees. NMWA also serves as a center for the performing and literary arts and other creative disciplines.
History
The National Museum of Women in the Arts was incorporated in November 1981 as a private, non-profit museum. The founders, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay and Wallace F. Holladay, began collecting art in the 1960s,and committed themselves for over 20 years to assembling art by women. By 1980, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay began to devote her energies and resources to creating a museum that would showcase women artists, and the Holladay Collection became the core of the institution’s permanent collection. During its first five years, NMWA operated from temporary offices with docent-led tours of the collection at the Holladay residence. Special exhibitions also were presented. In 1983 the museum purchased a 78,810-square-foot Washington landmark near the White House, formerly a Masonic Temple, and refurbished it in accordance with the highest design, museum, and security standards. It won numerous architectural awards. It reopened in 1987.
Collection and Outreach Activities
The National Museum of Women in the Arts has presented exhibitions aimed at the comprehensive study of women artists – past and present. Exhibitions have featured the work of Camille Claudel, Margaret Bourke-White, Carrie Mae Weems, Judith Leyster, Sofonisba Anguissola, Dame Elisabeth Frink, and many others. The museum has also acquired important works by Frida Kahlo, Käthe Kollwitz, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Lotte Laserstein, Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun, Dorothy Dehner, Joan Snyder, and others, along with special collections, such as silver by English and Irish silversmiths, miniatures by Eulabee Dix, and woodblock prints by Grace Albee.
The museum’s holdings have grown to include works by more than 800 artists. Each year NMWA offers approximately 80 diverse education and outreach programs for children, adults, and teachers and produces educational materials that families and teachers can use. The Library and Research Center has extensive files on more than 18,000 women artists of all periods and nationalities and approximately 18,500 volumes of books and exhibition catalogues.