Clara Peeters’ art looks so real that it’s almost touchable. Her paintings are full of feasts to be eaten, flowers to be smelled, and cats to be petted.
In the 1960s, Wilhelmina Holladay and her husband — both art enthusiasts — were drawn to Peeters’ meticulous still-life paintings. The Holladays were disappointed to find that American museums did not feature the Flemish artist’s work — or many other women artists, for that matter.
Holladay decided that if she couldn’t beat them, she’d join them by starting her very own museum. But she needed help. During her keynote speech at the 1985 AAUW National Convention in Columbus, Ohio, Holladay asked AAUW members for support. The outpouring of donations helped form the foundation for the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Last night, AAUW celebrated that shared history at a birthday party of sorts in honor of the 25th anniversary of NMWA and the 130th anniversary of AAUW.
“Wilhelmina Cole Holladay has been called a daring trailblazer and a visionary,” AAUW President Carolyn Garfein (pictured) said to the crowd of 550 guests. “I’m glad we can call her a friend.”
From left: AAUW Executive Director Linda Hallman joined Garfein, Holladay, Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers, and NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling in speaking to the crowd of 550 guests, who also sipped cocktails, talked culture, and viewed the museum’s stunning collection.
“Mrs. Holladay created the National Museum of Women in the Arts because women were woefully underrepresented in the art world,” said Hallman. “There is another place where women are woefully underrepresented, and that’s in politics.”
Hallman (pictured) went on to discuss the AAUW Action Fund’s get-out-the-vote campaign, which encourages young women to vote in hopes of amplifying women’s voices — an appropriate ending to a night of celebrating women’s contributions to art and politics.
A new exhibit of French paintings — many never seen outside of France — showcased the intersection of politics and art in women’s lives between 1750 and 1850 and served as a dovetail between history and the present day for guests.
AAUW Dialog 
How proud we are as AAUW members to be part of the history of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Love that museum! Utah has made its own contirbutions to women in the arts with its biennial Utah Women Artists’ Exhibition which we have been hosting sine the early 80’s, prior to 1985, I believe, and which has its own UWAE Foundation. We give away prize money ranging from $7,000 – $12,000, as I recall. This is the most fun project I have ever worked on!