Over thirty years ago, there wasn’t one museum in the world focused solely on women artists. In the spring of 1987, when the National Museum of Women in the Arts opened its doors in Washington, D.C., that changed. From its start, the museum showcased the work of women artists from around the globe—and it remains committed to celebrating women in the visual, performing, and literary arts.

Museum director Susan Fisher Sterling has been working at the organization for three decades and helped expand its mission to include grassroots exhibitions and community outreach.

We sat down with Fisher Sterling in her office in the downtown Washington, where she talked about what it’s like to lead a ground-breaking artistic institution and what