The nation’s only museum dedicated to female artists, since 1981 the NMWA has featured a permanent collection of 4,500 artworks made by more than 1,000 different women. Spanning the 16th century to today, this collection includes pieces by painters Berthe Morisot and Grandma Moses, photographer Nan Goldin, and sculptor Louise Bourgeois. The museum also hosts several rotating exhibits throughout the year, highlighting exciting, whimsical, controversial and/or thought-provoking female-made work in every medium.

Housed in an elegant Renaissance Revival building, NMWA has a performance space for lectures, a library full of resources on women in the arts, and the on-site Mezzanine Café, serving Mediterranean-style salads and sandwiches in a marble-paved atrium surrounded by art. The Café is open 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., and in addition to weekday and Saturday lunches, offers brunch on the first Sunday of every month ($25 per person).