About Us
Current 2024 Board Members with Georgia’s Woman to Watch Artist Marianna Dixon Williams (left), NMWA Deputy Director Ilene Gutman (center right) and NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling (seated right)
Photo Credit: TW Meyer
What We Do
NMWA exterior, Washington DC, Thomas H. Field photo
Direct Support For NMWA
Ongoing: Engaging GANMWA members to increase support and awareness of both organizations.
2023: Completed payment pledge of $150,000 to the Space to Soar NMWA’s building renovation campaign.
2020: Purchased for NMWA’s permanent collection:
Take Out, a 2012 lithograph print Snow White-Detourist, 2012 screen print Fortune Cookie, 2019 letterpress print by Jiha Moon
Red Moon, a 2019 unique artist book by
Sanaz Haghani
Both Moon and Haghani were past Georgia Women to Watch.
Sanaz Haghani, Red Moon; screen-print, marbling and monoprint on paper, 5.5” x 8.5”
2018: Purchased and donated, at NMWA’s request, Mildred Thompson’s Magnetic Fields, 1990, oil on canvas. Thompson was part of a group show entitled Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today at the Kemper Museum and at NMWA in 2017.
Mildred Thompson, Magnetic Fields, 1990, oil on canvas, 62” x 48”
2013 – 2016: Made gifts to NMWA including:
Leia, ceramic sculpture, Jiha Moon
Exhibition Sponsor of She Who Tells A Story
Florence Knoll benches for the museum’s exhibition spaces
Baluster for the Great Hall in honor of Anna Henson and her years of service as chair.
Jiha Moon, Leia, 2013, ceramic and glaze, 13” x 8” x 8”
2002-2012: Established Acquisitions Project which raised over $70,000 to place major works by Georgia women artists, selected by NMWA, into the museum’s permanent collection.
Artist Relief Fund
The Georgia Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts has distributed $500 individual visual artist grants to 20 Georgia-based female and female-identifying artists to help with financial hardship due to COVID-19.
“As longtime supporters of Georgia’s women artists through educational programs and the Women to Watch exhibition program, we wanted to offer our help during this time of great adversity for visual female artists,” says Georgia Committee board chair Sara Steinfeld of this inaugural relief fund.
Grants were distributed to practicing women, femme-identifying and non-binary visual artists living in Georgia who are able to demonstrate a commitment to their work and career and who are experiencing immediate financial need due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applicants were at least 21 years of age or older, reside in and have worked in the state of Georgia for the last two years and must have created at least one body of work in the past twelve months.
Artist Studio | Gallery Visits
Georgia Committee has visited over 40 galleries and artists’ studios over the last 8 years. Creating enriching dialogue between artists and art patrons as well as raising awareness of women artists in Atlanta and throughout the state of Georgia.
Studio visits enrich both the artist and the art lover, exchanging thoughtful discourse on concepts, process and work in progress. Studio and gallery visits are the backbone of the Georgia Committee, filling a need for both the visitors and the artists.
Georgia Committee has visited studios and galleries across the state of Georgia including:
Atlanta
Athens
Savannah
Kennesaw
Decatur
Click here for more photos of visits through the years.
Founder
Ellie Atuk
Board of Directors
Co-Chairs
Katie Johnson & Angela West
Immediate Past Chair
Sara Steinfeld
Lisa Cannon Taylor, Chair Emeritus
Board Members
Catherine Cage
Kristen V. Cahill
Laurie Coleman
Felicia Feaster
Jean Hanges
Susan Ker-Seymer
Belinda Massafra
Lisa Cannon Taylor
Lisa D. Thrower
Advisory Council
Anna Stapleton Henson, Chair Emeritus
Eleanor Ridley, Chair Emeritus
Barbara Balser
Kenneth P. Dutter
Mary Heisel
Marianne Lambert
Elizabeth Morgan Spiegel
Judith G. Taylor
Mission + History
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay, due to her awareness of the vast underrepresentation of art by women in museums. Mrs. Holladay’s idea for NMWA’s state and international committees evolved at the same time and as an integral part of her concept for the museum’s structure. The Georgia Committee (GANMWA) was incorporated in 1986 as one of the first of NMWA’s committees. Read more.
The mission of GANMWA is two-pronged – we support NMWA’s mission to champion women through the arts, and bring recognition to the achievements of Georgia women artists in the visual, musical and literary arts.
Bringing Recognition to the Achievements of Georgia Women Artists
1996: Organized the critically acclaimed 9 Women In Georgia exhibition which opened at NMWA and then travelled to the Atlanta History Center for the Atlanta Olympics.
2004 to the Present: Through NMWA’s exhibition programs, From the States in 2004 and Women to Watch from 2010 to 2023, GANMWA has been able to showcase the works of rising Georgia Women artists on an ongoing basis, with events and exhibits both in Atlanta and at NMWA.
GANMWA gives current and prospective members multiple opportunities throughout the year to learn about and tour the studios of women artists in Atlanta and throughout the state, as well as participate in curatorial tours of exhibits showing art by women.
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. With its collections, exhibitions, programs, and online content, the museum inspires dynamic exchanges about art and ideas. NMWA advocates for better representation of women artists and serves as a vital center for thought leadership, community engagement, and social change. NMWA addresses the gender imbalance in the presentation of art by bringing to light important women artists of the past while promoting great women artists working today.