Honestly, I just got tired of walking into museums and seeing rooms full of dudes. Wanted to find places actually doing something about showing women sculptors, you know? Like, where do you even start? Figured sharing what I dug up could help others skip the headache.
The Hunt Begins
Okay, first I just googled "women sculptors museums". Bad move. Got a million general "best art museums" lists or stuff way too old. Felt like searching for a needle in a haystack. Then I tried adding city names I knew were big on art – London, New York, Paris. Still messy.
Switched gears. Remembered hearing about specific feminist art places years ago. Scrolled deep into my browser history and dug up a couple names – places known for supporting women artists. Searched those directly.
Actually Finding Gold (Mostly)
That helped! Started hitting actual dedicated collections or at least museums with serious ongoing commitments. Looked at their current and past exhibitions online. Scrolled through their "Collection" sections if they had them, filtering for sculpture by women. Bookmarked pages fast!
Then I thought, check the socials. Followed a bunch of art history folks and feminist art accounts on the blue bird app and the gram. Scrolled for ages. People were sharing cool exhibits happening right now or permanent collections worth visiting. Jotted down notes like crazy. Some spots kept popping up:
- The National Museum of Women in the Arts (Obviously a big one, reopened!).
- Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London – folks kept raving about their historical and contemporary women sculptors spread out, gotta hunt a bit though.
- Several smaller galleries specializing in modern/contemporary works – names I hadn't heard much before, but their online stuff looked solid.
Also, surprisingly, stumbled on some university museums doing focused shows. Wouldn't have thought of that normally!
Putting it Together (And My Messy Reality)
Alright, had a pile of tabs open, notes on my phone, and scribbles on actual paper – yeah, paper! My desk looked like a bomb hit it. Time to make a simple list anyone could use.
Made two main sections:
- Major Museums with Strong Women Sculptor Collections: Places like the V&A, NMWA, others confirmed through their own sites.
- Smaller Galleries & Specialist Spaces: The dedicated spots, often more contemporary.
Tried to be real about it. Didn't wanna just copy-paste names. For the big museums, I noted it’s sometimes mixed in, not always a dedicated "Women's Wing" (wishful thinking!). For the smaller galleries, highlighted they often punch above their weight.
The Final List (And My Relief)
Phew. Got it organized. Posted the list on the blog. Felt good knowing someone else might avoid my hours of messy searching. But lmao, right after hitting publish, I saw someone share ANOTHER gallery on my feed I totally missed. Typical! Maybe a part two someday...
