Walking through the average art gallery in D.C. and beyond, visitors are greeted by a variety of types of art that tend to have one thing in common 鈥� they were created by men.
Though representation of women artists has improved, 87% of the artists with works in major museums’ collections are men, .
But there鈥檚 an exception to that in the District.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Northwest D.C. is possibly the only museum of its stature in the world with 100% work by female artists. According to its website, it is the
鈥� in a building previously occupied by a group that didn鈥檛 allow women members.
It closed for renovations in August 2021 to expand gallery space and to add an educational center, and it plans to reopen this October. But its advocacy for women artists has continued amid the closure in the form of online campaigns, virtual events and lending out its works of art.
In honor of Women鈥檚 History Month, Ginny Treanor, a senior curator at the museum, spoke to 草莓传媒 about the state of women artists鈥� representation in museums and galleries.
By the numbers
Between 2008 and 2020, 11% of all acquisitions at 26 prominent American museums were works by female artists, .
The , which tracks diversity in art collections on a yearly basis, found major discrepancies in how women artists are paid compared to their male counterparts.
Between 2008 and 2022, some $187 billion worth of artworks were sold at auctions worldwide. But of that, just $6.2 billion was spent on women artists, that鈥檚 3.3% of sales.
鈥淭o put that in perspective, during that same time period, just one male artist, Picasso, sold $6.23 billion in sales,鈥� Treanor said. 鈥淭hat’s more than all women artists combined.鈥�
The gap is even larger for women artists who are Black.
In the same time period, just 2% of auction sales went to Black artists and 0.1% went to Black women artists, according to the Burns Halperin Report.
Education and advocacy聽
The museum works to promote gender equity in the arts, Treanor said.
“You’ll notice that I didn’t say equality, because equality doesn’t take into account the differences in lived experiences of men and women,” she said. “We are going for equity, that is representation for women artists, on terms that work for women artists, and again, realizing that women artists themselves are not a monolith.”聽
Like other industries, Treanor said the issue of representation stems from the “systems of operation,” as women are oftentimes not in positions of power in the art world.
“It really comes down to who’s in the room making decisions about what gets bought, and what gets sold,” said Treanor. “A lot of times that comes down to who has the money.鈥�
While the number of women directors of museums has gone up, she said that women need to hold positions as board members, directors and philanthropists as well to improve representation in galleries.
Leaving female artists out of galleries doesn’t just hurt their pocketbooks, it also means the audience is missing out.
鈥淚t is beneficial for all of us, not just women 鈥� to have more perspectives in the gallery, more points of view in the art world,” Treanor said.
She said art can open up dialogues and be a “tool for us to relate to each other as humans with more empathy.”
Even a gallery fully stocked by works from women artists has work to do in the realm of diversity. Treanor said the museum has strove to add works by women of color over the past several years, 鈥渘ot just Black American women, but also African women, Southeast Asian women.”
鈥淲e are really committed to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, being a place where everybody can come in and find themselves represented, find something that speaks to them,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd really, the only way to do that is to make sure that your collection and the things that you’re displaying have that diversity.鈥�
Treanor added that it doesn’t take purchasing a piece for millions of dollars to help better women artists’ placement in the industry.
“If you’re going to a local art fair, seek out the women artists, talk to them, see what they’re doing,” she said. “And support them if you like their work.”
Can you name five women artists? Here鈥檚 one to start.
When founding the museum, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay would often ask a room full of people to name five artists.
Then she鈥檇 pose a follow-up question, 鈥淐an you name five women artists?鈥�
That proved more difficult for many to answer, and Treanor said it inspired an online campaign for the museum. So far, over 87,000 people have tagged , and the the campaign keeps the topic of representation alive beyond Women’s History Month in聽 March.
Treanor offered up one artist to get people wanting to learn about local women artists started: Alma Thomas.
Born in Georgia in 1891, Thomas moved to D.C. as a teenager during the Great Migration, . She emerged as an artist with a distinct, abstract style in the 1960s that was later coined the Alma Strip.
Thomas was the in 1924. Along with being active in the District鈥檚 art scene through galleries, she taught art in D.C. public schools for almost 40 years.
When it鈥檚 open, Thomas鈥� work is on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art.
鈥淪he just embodies what it is to be an artist,鈥� Treanor said. 鈥淪he lived art, she breathed art for her entire life, and she taught it to generations of D.C. public school children.鈥�
Celebrating women artists during Women鈥檚 History Month聽
What鈥檚 happening on March 8?聽
International Women鈥檚 Day falls on March 8 and the museum kicks off its remote programming at 11 a.m.
Here鈥檚 a summary of :
From 11 a.m. to noon. 鈥� Associate curator Orin Zahra is hosting a talk with documentary photographer Lina Geoushy.
鈥淭hey’re going to have a discussion about her series on women athletes, who are disrupting gender stereotypes across the globe,鈥� Treanor said.
From noon to 1 p.m. 鈥� D.C.鈥檚 all-female Go-Go band will perform at the museum concert series: The Tea.
From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. 鈥� Museum staff host their own version of the game with questions, such as 鈥淗ave you ever cried in front of an artwork? Blown your budget on art-making supplies?鈥澛�
From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. 鈥� D.C.-area mixologists teach participants how to make cocktails inspired by works of art.
Busy on Wednesday? Some alternatives.
The museum hosts art chats every Friday evening all year long.
Treanor co-hosts a program every second Tuesday at noon. The next one is . She said it will work to dispel the myth that there weren鈥檛 many women artists historically.
Itching to see some art in person?聽
While the museum is closed, it has lent out some pieces from its collection to the National Gallery of Art in D.C. and the Baltimore Museum of Art in Maryland.
A favorite of Treanor鈥檚, and one of the museum鈥檚 most popular pieces, is a
鈥淚t’s the only work by Frida Kahlo 鈥� in the area, and people come to NMWA specifically to see that work, and it is now on view at the National Gallery of Art.鈥�
