director Anne-Imelda Radice. After extensive renovations that included the addition of the two dramatic marble stairways linking the first floor and mezzanine, the museum opened to the public on April 7, 1987. In November 1997, the Elisabeth A. Kasser Wing was opened, adding two new galleries, a larger museum shop, and a reception room. The entire facility . The entire facility is now 84,110 square feet (7,814 m2). The museum closed in August 2021 for a major renovation, with plans to reopen in late 2023. Key improvements include enlarged gallery space, a new destination for researchers and education programs, enhanced amenities and accessibility for visitors as well as infrastructure and storage upgrades to improve the long-term conservation and security of the museum’s collection. Wilhelmina Cole Holladay Wilhelmina Cole Holladay was the founder and chair of the Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Since her discovery that women artists have historically been omitted from collegiate art history texts, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay made it her mission to bring to the forefront the accomplishments of women through collecting, exhibiting and researching women artists of all nationalities and time periods. Holladay created individual committees of over 1,000 volunteers from 27 states and seven countries, to give educational opportunities to children through collaborations with schools and other community groups, as well as provided opportunities for adults to participate and encourage art in local communities across the globe. Wilhelmina Cole Holladay's interest in art was sparked as a student at Elmira College in New York, where she studied art history, followed by graduate work at the University of Paris. She is listed in Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in the World, and she held many honorary degrees and achievement awards for her work in the arts community. In 2006 she received the National Medal of Arts from the United States and the Légion d'honneur from the French government. In 2007 Holladay received the Gold Medal for the Arts from the National Arts Club in New York City. Holladay died on March 6, 2021, at her home in Washington, D.C. She was 98. New York Avenue Sculpture Project The museum sponsored a series of installations on New York Avenue in Washington, DC from 13th Street to 9th Street, in the heart of Mount Vernon Square. The point of the effort was to bring "character" to an