Women collectors have played an important role in shaping the Baltimore Museum of Art. For more than a century, female patrons, scholars, and leaders have helped build the collection and have supported BMA programs.
The Museum’s first exhibition in 1923 was held in a Baltimore townhouse once owned by Mary Elizabeth Garrett, a suffragist, advocate for women’s education, and founding trustee of the BMA. Since then, works donated by women collectors have become central to the Museum’s holdings.
Major collections given by women helped create important spaces, including the Mary Frick Jacobs Wing, the Dorothy McIlvain Scott American Wing, and the Cone Wing.
The generosity of these women continues to shape the Museum and support its mission to share art with the community.
