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CINCINNATI —August 24, 2026— The Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) will open its first gallery permanently dedicated to the display and interpretation of fashion and textiles on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. The gallery is named in honor of Mary W. Baskett.  

In 2025, Mrs. Baskett planned a $5 million gift to support CAM’s fashion arts and textiles collection. This gift led to the opening of the gallery and will endow the curator of fashion arts and textiles position. In addition, Mrs. Baskett’s collection of fashion from Japan–featuring pieces by designers Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto, among others–and her compilation of art history research will accompany the gift.

Mrs. Baskett passed away at the age of 85 on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. “Mary’s journey from curator to educator to gallerist, collector, and philanthropist in Cincinnati speaks to her deep dedication to and love for the arts and our city. Her passing is a difficult loss for our community,” said Megan Nauer, CAM’s Acting Curator of Fashion Arts and Textiles. “We are privileged to honor her legacy by carrying forward her dream of establishing a gallery committed to the display of fashion arts.”

CAM will regularly rotate the works on display inside the Mary W. Baskett Gallery, focusing on fashion and its intersections with other art forms. Its first special feature, titled Gesture and Meaning, draws entirely from Mrs. Baskett’s collection of avant-garde artists from Japan.

“CAM’s interest in the study of fashion and textile as fine art forms harkens to the community orientation of the museum as belonging to all of Cincinnati,” shared Cameron Kitchin, Louis and Louise Dieterle Nippert Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum. “Elevating design and decorative arts into our work honors both Mary and the entirety of our broad mission to inspire and connect through the power of art."

Mrs. Baskett was the curator of prints at CAM from 1965 until 1971 and was a specialist in both Western and Japanese prints and a published author on the graphic arts. While at the museum, she was instrumental in building one of the world’s finest collections of 20^th century Japanese prints. Her commitment to Japanese fashion was recognized with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tokyo Commendation Award in 2010 for her "contributions to cultural exchange in the field of art." Mrs. Baskett was the owner of Mary W. Baskett Gallery in Mount Adams and was also an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati.

CAM has approximately 15,000 works in its fashion arts and textiles collection, including dress, accessories and fiber arts from around the world.

About the Cincinnati Art Museum

The Cincinnati Art Museum features a diverse, encyclopedic art collection of more than 73,000 works spanning 6,000 years. In addition to displaying its own broad collection, the museum conducts extensive research and creates and organizes several exhibitions each year. It also hosts national and international traveling exhibitions. Through these critical projects and art-related programs, activities and special events, the museum contributes to a more vibrant Cincinnati by inspiring its people and connecting its communities.

Cincinnati Art Museum is supported by the tens of thousands of people who give generously to the annual ArtsWave Campaign, the region’s primary source for arts funding. The Ohio Arts Council helps fund the Cincinnati Art Museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Cincinnati Art Museum gratefully acknowledges operating support from the City of Cincinnati, as well as its members. Free general admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is made possible by a gift from the Rosenthal Family Foundation. Generous support for the museum’s extended Thursday hours is provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program. Exhibition pricing may vary. Parking at the Cincinnati Art Museum is free. Accessibility accommodations are available. Visit cincinnatiartmuseum.org.

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