WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) hosts a variety of virtual and on-site programming during Women’s History Month this March, including special events on March 8 for International Women’s Day.
Explore the personal letters of Frida Kahlo in NMWA’s archives, attend a film screening or pop-up performance, or create your own pinhole camera at a special Firsthand Experience workshop. Visit Uncanny and related programs—this new special exhibition features psychologically tense, darkly humorous works by artists such as Magdalena Abakanowicz, Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Meret Oppenheim, Frida Orupabo, Remedios Varo and Gillian Wearing.
The museum continues its popular social media campaign #5WomenArtists throughout 2025. To increase awareness of gender inequity in the art world and beyond, the global campaign asks the question, “Can you name five women artists?” In 2025, the campaign will focus on intersectional environmentalism, exploring how environmental action and climate issues can inspire real-world change. NMWA will co-create content with individuals, artists and organizations and consider the ways in which gender equity and environmental activism are intertwined on a local, national and global scale. This work will be featured in select NMWA programs, social media and digital offerings throughout the year.
Read on for a full list of celebratory events this March.
Opening Weekend: Uncanny
Saturday, March 1, and Sunday, March 2, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Visit Uncanny, a new exhibition featuring more than 60 works by nearly 30 artists, from renowned figures of modern art history such as Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Meret Oppenheim and Remedios Varo to prominent contemporary artists including Berlinde De Bruyckere, Shahzia Sikander, Laurie Simmons and Gillian Wearing. Named for the unsettling psychological experience of something both familiar and foreign, Uncanny is the first exhibition to examine this concept through a feminist lens. Free with admission.
Free Community Days
Sunday, March 2, and Wednesday, March 12, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Visit us on the first Sunday and second Wednesday of the month for free museum admission. Take this opportunity to explore our collection and current exhibitions. Attend a tour and join NMWA educators in the museum’s studio for free, self-directed, drop-in art-making activities inspired by artworks on view. Free. Reservations required.
Pop-up Performance: Molly Grace
Sunday, March 2, 11 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Kick off Women's History Month with Nashville-based musician Molly Grace. Attendees will hear from Grace about the inspiration behind her music and her journey as a queer artist. She will then perform an acoustic version of her newest single, F.E.M.M.E. Free.
Artist Talk: Uncanny
Friday, March 7, 12–1 p.m.
Online
In advance of International Women’s Day, join us for a special program exploring Uncanny, the new exhibition that uncovers modern and contemporary women artists’ use of the uncanny to challenge patriarchal conventions. Curator Orin Zahra will join exhibition artists Fabiola Jean-Louis and Sheida Soleimani to offer an insider’s perspective on how the exhibition illuminates feminist strategies of defamiliarization and resistance. How can the concept of the uncanny help women reclaim agency, reimagine narratives and spark new perspectives? Free. Reservations required.
Firsthand Experience: Pinhole Pics
Saturday, March 8, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Learn about the history of pinhole cameras and how contemporary artist R.C. Barajas uses this basic tool to make surreal and ethereal photographs. Join us to create your own lens-less camera, capture images and develop your photographs. $25; $22 students, seniors and D.C. residents; $20 members. Reservations required.
International Women’s Day Yoga
Saturday, March 8, 9–10 a.m.
Kick-start your day with a mindful, gentle yoga session surrounded by art in our iconic Great Hall. This class will feature seated, supine and slow standing poses, with an emphasis on linking breath and movement. Suitable for all levels. Please bring your yoga mat. $20; $17 students, seniors and D.C. residents; $15 members. Reservations required.
Frida Kahlo: Beyond the Myth
Saturday, March 8, 12–1 p.m.
Online
Celebrate International Women’s Day with an exclusive virtual event exploring the life, art and enduring legacy of Frida Kahlo. Join Dr. Sarah Powers, curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), as she delves into her research for Frida: Beyond the Myth, a new exhibition at VMFA opening in April 2025. This presentation offers unique insights into Kahlo’s artistry and life, focusing on the pivotal role of personal correspondence and archives in shaping our understanding of one of the 20th century’s most iconic artists. Following the presentation, Powers will discuss NMWA’s collection of Kahlo’s personal archives with Laura Hoffman, Director of Digital Engagement at NMWA. They will explore ways that digital innovation can transform audiences’ engagement with personal narratives in art. Free. Reservations required.
Creative’s Keynote: Sandra Jackson-Dumont
Sunday, March 16, 6–8 p.m.
Sandra Jackson-Dumont shares her vision and strategies for promoting diversity and inclusion in the arts. Drawing from her experience as director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, Jackson-Dumont will discuss the importance of telling stories and how the Lucas Museum and NMWA are leaders in championing underrepresented artists and art forms. Attendees will hear about the role of narrative art in amplifying diverse stories and experiences, innovative curatorial approaches that reflect a wide range of perspectives, collaboration between museums that can elevate underrepresented art, and forward-thinking ideas for inclusivity in the art world. Followed by a salon-style cocktail hour. $25; $22 for seniors/students; $20 NMWA members. Reservations required.
NMWA Nights
Wednesday, March 19, 5:30–8 p.m.
Join us for a creative and engaging after-hours experience! Peruse the galleries, grab a cocktail, listen to a performance, attend a tour or participate in art-making and craft activities. This event is co-hosted by We Met IRL, who engage attendees in their mission of community- and relationship-building. Ticket includes two drinks; additional drinks for purchase. $25; $22 for seniors/students; $20 NMWA members. Reservations required; tickets available March 5.
Fresh Talk: Defining Success
Monday, March 24, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Join us for an empowering conversation between two entrepreneurs from the food industry as they share stories and discuss nontraditional paths to success in a world of online businesses, side hustles, and evolving trends. The conversation features Jill Nguyen, founder of Capital Jill Baking, a Washington, DC-based microbakery and cake workshop, and Bricia Lopez, co-owner of Guelaguetza, a Oaxacan restaurant and boutique market in Los Angeles. $25; $22 for seniors/students; $20 NMWA members.
Environmental Film Festival: Holding Back The Tide
Wednesday, March 26, 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Presented in partnership with the Environmental Film Festival, Holding Back The Tide is an impressionistic hybrid documentary exploring the life cycles of oysters in New York, once the world’s oyster capital. Through the lens of queer characters and ancient myth, the film uncovers the overlooked history and biology of the bivalves that shaped the city. As environmentalists work to restore oysters to the harbor, the film highlights the oyster as a queer icon, deeply entwined with nature, offering insights into resilience and survival. Following the screening, join us for a conversation with the film's director, Emily Packer, and Kelley Daley, Director of Public Programs at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Free.
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Intersectional Environmentalism
Thursday, March 27 1–3:30 p.m.
Online
Join the museum's Library and Research Center and our partner Wikimedia DC for a virtual Wikipedia Edit-a-thon to help close information gaps related to gender, feminism and the arts. This year NMWA will focus on environmental justice and sustainability in the arts to complement our 2025 #5WomenArtists campaign. Open to all regardless of experience, gender, or background. Free. Registration required.
Art Chat
Friday, March 28 5–5:45 p.m.
Online
Jump-start your weekend with art from home. Join NMWA educators online for an informal 45-minute art chat about selected artworks in the collection. You can even enjoy your favorite happy hour drink or snack during the session. Free. Reservations required.
Gallery Talks
Wednesdays, 12–12:30 p.m.
Thematic talks highlight two to three works on view. Topics and locations in the museum vary. Free. Reservations not required. Meet at the Information Desk. Subject to staff availability.
Collection Highlights Tours
Daily, 2–2:45 p.m.
Explore the museum’s collection during engaging, interactive drop-in tours. These guided experiences feature six to eight works on view highlighting the creative contributions of artists from the 16th century to today. Free with admission. Reservations not required. Meet at the Information Desk. Subject to docent availability.
Exhibitions on View
Samantha Box: Confluences
Through March 23, 2025
Bronx-based photographer Samantha Box (b. 1977, Kingston, Jamaica) navigates social and cultural landscapes through complex images exploring race, gender, class and sexuality. Black-and-white documentary photographs from her series “The INVISIBLE Archive” depict New York City’s LGBTQIA+ youth of color. The series reveals community-defined spaces and chosen family bonds that work to counter her subjects’ experiences with homophobia and transphobia. In vibrant staged images, Box’s ongoing studio practice, “Caribbean Dreams,” shifts inward, as the artist articulates her own diasporic Indo-Afro-Caribbean identity through personal and historical narratives.
In Focus: Artists at Work
Through April 20, 2025
Enjoy a close-up look into the practices and perspectives of eight contemporary collection artists via short documentary-style videos. Presented in NMWA’s ground-floor Long Gallery, the videos feature Ambreen Butt, Sonya Clark, Colette Fu, the Guerrilla Girls, Graciela Iturbide, Delita Martin, Rania Matar and Alison Saar. The installation’s intimate and immersive design sparks curiosity, inspires advocacy and encourages slow looking during visitors’ exploration of the museum. For this project, NMWA partnered with Emmy and James Beard award-winning film production company Smartypants and experiential design firm Art Processors to ensure an accessible and enriching experience.
Uncanny
February 28–August 10, 2025
Unearthly, enigmatic and psychologically tense, the works in Uncanny give form to women artists’ powerful expressions of existential unease. This exhibition surveys the use of the uncanny from the Surrealist movement to the present. Artists subvert gender stereotypes and explore feminist issues through disquieting spaces, fantastical figures and technology that appears eerily human.
Remix: The Collection
Ongoing
Remix showcases familiar collection favorites as well as never-before-exhibited recent acquisitions. Artworks are grouped around themes, in some cases anchored by a medium and in others by an idea, that resonate among global artists across time, including photography, fiber works, the colors red and purple, nature, domesticity and more.
