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Frida in "The Sister Chapel", a major feminist art installation at RUMOCA in Glassboro, New Jersey,

Frida in "The Sister Chapel", a major feminist art installation at RUMOCA in Glassboro, New Jersey,

07 May 2026

The Sister Chapel, an ambitious, immersive "hall of fame" of women's accomplishments, has reopened at the Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art in Glassboro, New Jersey, following an 18-month restoration. The audio component features student voices. The fully restored installation envelops visitors in a 360-degree celebration of women's stories, strength, and creativity.
This massive installation, which made its debut in New York in 1978, only had three exhibitions before settling on the first floor of Rowan University's Westby Hall in 2016.

The Sister Chapel is now permanently on display at Rowan after undergoing renovations. It is housed inside a circular, pavilion-like building that is covered in fabric, just as its designers intended.
Instead of a conventional gallery exhibit, guests are encircled by eleven enormous paintings that represent historical, mythological, and religious figures. Each painting is precisely nine feet tall. These include striking conceptual pieces like God by Cynthia Mailman and Womanhero by Martha Edelheit, as well as vivid depictions of pioneering feminist Betty Friedan, warrior-saint Joan of Arc, and artist Frida Kahlo. An expansive abstract ceiling with a mirrored center overhead reflects the observer back into the installation, creating an aspirational space where guests can picture themselves as a legendary female hero.

For eighteen months, the Sister Chapel was completely renovated. New flooring, renovated walls, lighting, and gallery furniture, as well as restored architectural features, are among the updates.
The Sister Chapel was designed by artist Ilise Greenstein and twelve other female artists as a daring departure from conventional, male-dominated historical narratives. Today, its presence at RUMOCA provides visitors with a remarkable, unique experience just outside of Philadelphia while anchoring the museum's expanding permanent collection (of more than 400 pieces of work by women artists from the 1970s and 1980s).

The Sister Chapel's name is a wordplay inspired by Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco. Among the featured pieces are Sylvia Sleigh's Lilith, Shirley Gorelick's Frida Kahlo, and Alice Neel's Bella Abzug–The Candidate.

Click here to download the exhibition catalogue in pdf format.