Massachusetts artist Cynthia Consentino was selected to create the first new artist-designed washroom for the Arts Center since 1999. The Women’s Room opened to the public in June 2005. Loved at once for its buoyant colors and dazzling hand-painted imagery, The Women’s Room reflects the artist’s own affection and aversion toward what society has defined as female.

Consentino created over thirty sculptural reliefs of female body types, animal figures, objects, accessories, and plants. She then hand painted hundreds of tiles that were created using molds of those reliefs. Consentino arranged the tiles in various combinations to create cohesive bodies—both recognizable female figures and fantastical forms. The figures, which can be read as “pure play,” suggest many of the roles of women in society and include references to fairy tales, myths, and cultural slang.

The Women’s Room also includes over 120 glaze paintings of hats and shoes and hand-painted sinks and toilets. Painted in a colorful, light, and expressive manner, the stall tiles depict a near categorical display of women’s undergarments and accessories including bras, stockings, hair combs, jewelry, and handbags.