Women to Watch 2027
In recognition of NMWA’s 40th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Women to Watch, the museum’s hallmark exhibition series evolves into a multi-faceted experience across the new Gloria & Dan Logan Learning Commons. The MaryRoss Taylor Galleries will be filled with contemporary artists’ books—works of art in book form, which often encourage “readers” to rethink the nature of books in new or unexpected ways by fusing together a wide variety of materials and formats —from around the world, in the newest Women to Watch exhibition collaboration with our national and international committees. The Susan Swartz Studio will host hands-on bookmaking workshops for all ages. NMWA’s Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center will exhibit additional artists’ books from NMWA’s world-renowned collection, and programming staff will partner with artists to present talks and book-arts demonstrations.
Lois Morrison, Endangered Species, 1999; Cloth over board, color-copied drawings.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS AND BOOK ARTS
NMWA is known worldwide for its peerless collection of nearly 1,000 artists’ books, a special collection catalyzed in the 1980s by NMWA curator emerita Krystyna Wasserman. The Book as Art, a landmark exhibition at the museum in 2007, was accompanied by an immensely popular catalogue that sold out two editions (and can now only be purchased pre-owned). Since that time, the museum’s staff has ensured that artists’ books are always on view in the galleries and library, and visitors to NMWA are universally enthralled by these fascinating objects. LRC staff members host dozens of meetings each year with students and scholars of bookmaking, all delighted to see examples up close.
Julie Chen, Bon Bon Mots, 1998
Although some artists’ books involve the time-honored processes of printing and binding, the most dynamic examples of the medium include elements of sculpture. Books are created through inventive techniques such as folding, carving, piercing, pleating, and curling. NMWA’s own collection includes works that are dramatically sculptural in form, made from materials including linen, wood, aluminum, and semi-precious stone.
The museum also collects and exhibits zines (handmade, self-published booklets that convey personal reflections on progressive topics) and graphic novels. Marjane Satrapi, Jillian Tamaki, and Mariko Tamaki are among the best-known graphic novelists working today, but there are many women and non-binary artists creating exciting and timely publications in this medium.
Twenty years after The Book as Art—and twenty years after NMWA’s inaugural Women to Watch exhibition—Women to Watch 2027 brings to the fore a medium that has been part of NMWA’s distinctive identity since the museum’s founding. This new exhibition will focus on the place of book arts within contemporary art practices. Books, zines, and graphic novels representing a diverse and exhilarating range of artists, materials, techniques, and subject matter will reflect the spirit of the new NMWA.
Mid-March 2027: WTW2027 opens with a VIP reception, to include all participating artists. All Committees will be invited to celebrate WTW2027.
August 2027: WTW2027 closes to the public.