Women’s History Month with Carnegie Museums

Gala Porras-Kim: The reflection at the threshold of a categorical division

Carnegie Museum of Art |
Forum Gallery
Through July 27
In dialogue with curators at Carnegie Museum of Art over the past two years, Porras-Kim has been trawling the museum’s database to better understand its holdings and the Carnegie Institute’s evolving cataloguing systems and acquisition history.

Her findings reveal overlapping areas in the collections of Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Carnegie Public Library, where each institution stewards their objects differently.

Gala Porras-Kim, 202 mineral objects at Carnegie Museum of Art or at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, (detail) 2025, Courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles; photo: Paul Salveson.

Museum Highlights Tour: Women in Science 

Carnegie Museum of Natural History |
Weekends at 12:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 5:00 p.m.
Explore the significant contributions and discoveries made by women in science that have historically been overlooked. Join our Natural History Interpreters to learn about the incredible women whose work is featured in our galleries and other highlights of amazing women working across different scientific fields as we celebrate Women’s History Month. Limited capacity. 

Look for the tour sign in the entrance to Dinosaurs in Their Time. Limited capacity.

Women+ of STEM,
Sci-tech Days  

Carnegie Science Center |
March 21
SciTech Days are career-focused field trips for students Grades 6–12 that connect middle- and high-school students with real-world scientists, engineers, tradespeople, and other STEM professionals from local companies, organizations, and universities. Students will explore demonstrations and interact with STEM experts and activity tables hosted by partnering organizations.

SciTech Days are scheduled for one Friday each month. This month’s program is Women+ of STEM.

Gertrude Abercrombie: The Whole World is a Mystery

Carnegie Museum of Art |
Scaife Gallery
Through June 1
Featuring loans from important institutional and private collections, this exhibition is the most comprehensive museum presentation of the works of Gertrude Abercrombie, a critical figure in the mid-20th-century Chicago art scene from the 1930s until her death in 1977.

Gertrude Abercrombie, Demolition Doors, 1964, Illinois State Museum, Illinois Legacy Collection, museum purchase

Women’s History Month Spotlights

Carnegie Museum of Natural History |
Saturdays and Sundays
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Drop-in for Spotlights throughout the museum led by Natural History Interpreters to celebrate Women’s History Month. Learn about women who have shaped our understanding of how the world works, such as Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie, Mary Anning, Rachel Carson, Mary Dawson, and Rosalie Littlethunder. Plus, see mineral, bird, and mammal specimens up close. Spotlights will vary throughout the month, and each experience will be unique. Ask for details from Visitor Services when you visit.

The Annual Terry Smith Lecture in Contemporary Art: Marci Kwon

Carnegie Museum of Art |
Art Theater
March 20, 6:30 p.m.
The Annual Terry Smith Lecture in Contemporary Art  honors the namesake emeritus professor in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Museum of Art advisory board member.

This year’s lecturer, Marcie Kwon, is an award-winning art historian, writer, and teacher.  Her work explores alterity, minorness, value, and the ethics of relation in art and material culture, with a special focus on the history of Asian American/diasporic artists and makers.  

Moriarty Science Seminar: Using Bird Banding Datasets to Track Trends in Bird Populations

Carnegie Museum of Natural History | Earth Theater and online via Zoom
March 17, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Featuring Annie Lindsay, Powdermill Avian Research Center.

Learn about scientific discoveries directly from the experts in the field. Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s scientific research staff and invited speakers discuss their latest findings on numerous scientific topics at the R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar series.

This lecture is free. Museum admission is not required.  

Celebrating Women in the Natural History Art Collection

As a major scientific institution that collects and conducts research, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History also has its own “Natural History Art” Collection, formerly known as the M. Graham Netting Animal Portraiture Collection. Consisting mostly of mid-twentieth-century naturalist and scientific illustrations, this collection serves as a useful addition to the museum’s resources that complements its research activities.

Within the collection are several women artists and scientific illustrators who each contributed to the genres of naturalist and scientific illustration.

Winifred Austen, Golden Orioles (detail), 1909, Watercolor on board, 

Women’s Committee Carnegie Museum of Art

Founded in 1957, the Women’s Committee operates exclusively to promote the cultural and educational value of Carnegie Museum of Art to the community by increasing the museum’s visibility, providing financial support and expanding its community outreach.  Since its inception, the Women’s Committee has funded the purchase of art for the collections, contributed to the museum’s infrastructure and gallery renovations, and participated as a major donor to museum endowment and capital campaigns.  

Carnegie magazine Q&As:
In conversation with incredible women from across our museums.

Gina Winstead
Vice President for inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA)

Gretchen Baker
Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Hope Gillespie
Museum experiences officer at Carnegie Science Center

Nicole Heller
Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Associate Curator of Anthropocene Studies

Kathy Hollis
Director of collections care and access at Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Dana Bishop-Root
Carnegie Museum of Art’s director of education and public programs

Grace Marsten
Arts educator at The Andy Warhol Museum

Tiffany Sims
Carnegie Museum of Art’s Margaret Powell Curatorial Fellow