The Women's Museum
The Women's Museum
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| Established | 2000 |
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| Dissolved | October 31, 2011 |
| Location | Fair Park, Dallas, Texas |
| Coordinates | 32°46′58″N 96°45′54″W / 32.7828°N 96.7651°W |
| President | Cathy Bonner |
| Public transit access | Fair Park Station |
The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future was a museum located inside Fair Park in Dallas, Texas (USA), covering the subject of American women's history. The Women's Museum's 70,000-square-foot (6,500 m2) building provided a home for programs and exhibits where people could honor the past and explore the contributions of women throughout history.
The idea of the museum was originally conceived by Cathy Bonner in 1996. Wendy Evans Joseph was chosen to be the design architect. She was previously senior designer for the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.. Exhibition design by Whirlwind Creative. The museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, opened September 29, 2000.
The mission of the Women's Museum was to inspire, educate, and stimulate their audience through the exploration of the successes, experiences, contributions and potential of women.
On October 5, 2011, the museum announced it would close on October 31, 2011 due to lack of funds.
This building was built in 1910 by C.D. Hill, which served as Fair Park first coliseum building. It was used for livestock auctions by day and musical theater performances by night. In 1936 this building was renovated and used as an administrative building for the Texas Centennial Expectations. The building was then used to complement the Art Deco facilities and they even added new art deco facade on the south face of the building.
“The Spirit of the Centennial” is a 15-foot-tall statue that depicts a young woman rising from a cactus. This symbol refers to the Texas Centennial Exposition. By the early 1990s, the building was in total disrepair and unsafe.
However, it wasn’t until the founder, Cathy Bonner, came to Dallas in 1996 where friends at Fair Park introduced her to the building. The women coming out of the cactus at the front was all it took to know that this would be the home of the Women’s Museum.
This foundation is a national, non-profit, educational organization dedicated to improving the personal and economic professional status of women and girls through projects and programs.
The first major project, Texas Women’s History Project, grew from an innocent question posted in 1974 by an eight-year-old girl. While attending the Institute of Texan Cultures Museum she asked her mother, “But where are all the women?”
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