Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, is launching a major exhibition titled “Women Artists: Four Centuries of Creativity,” running from November 1, 2025, to March 1, 2026. The show features 77 works, including 40 from the museum's own collection—20 of which are being displayed for the first time—and 37 loans from the Reading Public Museum in Pennsylvania. The exhibition was prompted by an internal assessment revealing that only 10.5% of the museum's 6,000-object permanent collection is by women artists. It will also host the first North Dakota appearance by the Guerrilla Girls, who will give a presentation and lead workshops. Student-authored texts from Minnesota State University Moorhead complement the show.
This exhibition matters because it directly confronts a stark gender imbalance in the museum's holdings, using institutional self-reflection to drive curatorial action. By spotlighting women artists across four centuries and involving the Guerrilla Girls—renowned for exposing systemic inequality—the museum positions itself as a model for addressing representation gaps. The inclusion of regional student scholarship further roots the effort in local education and community engagement, making the exhibition both a corrective and a catalyst for ongoing dialogue.