Women in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design

November 29, 2019–February 12, 2023 | Gallery 222

In the realms of ceramics, fiber and metalwork, women began to gain equal footing with male artists during the Arts and Crafts movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Additional acceptance and respect was garnered after World War II. Later, the emergence of the women’s liberation movement in the 1960s coincided with the development of the contemporary craft movement and further increased opportunities for female artists to work across all media, including glass and wood, two mediums traditionally dominated by male artists.

This installation underscores the museum’s continued commitment to collecting and showing the work of influential female artists. Featured artworks illustrate the ways in which women have shaped contemporary art, craft and design through innovative use of media, through diverse and profound expression, and through their leadership as practitioners and educators.

Women in Contemporary Art, Craft and Design is sited in the museum’s Nancy and David Wolf Gallery. Over several decades, the Wolfs assembled one of the finest collections of contemporary craft in this country. In 2009, they gifted the majority of this collection, with the promise of future gifts to come, to the Art Museum and the people of Cincinnati.