The Wife and I had some time before our dinner reservations, so we decided to see spend some time at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). The nearby streets had many signs about a special Ruth Asawa Retrospective, so we decided to pay extra to see it. The special exhibition did not disappointment. I knew a little about Ruth Asawa, having seen some of her wire mesh sculptures like the one to the right. The exhibit made me realized what an amazing human being Ruth Asawa was – an immensely successful artist, educator, and civic leader who fused Asian and American to make a lasting mark on art and the city of San Francisco. I would encourage Bay Area residents to see the Ruth Asawa Retrospective soon. The last day in SFMOMA is September 2.
Ruth Asawa started her serious art education after she was allowed to study at a teachers’ college during the Japanese internment. She couldn’t get a teaching job because of her race. She then studied at Black Mountain College afterward where she would meet her future husband Albert Lanier. Black Mountain was an integrated college in North Carolina – a striking contrast to the rest of the state during those times.
Artist, Educator, and Activist
Asawa was very successful commercially and artistically. Her work has sold for millions of dollars. What amazed me when I saw the retrospective was the variety of her work. She made more traditional looking prints that were influenced by her Asian heritage, such as this one of cherries. She made origami influenced folding art and filed for a design parent on it.
Asawa also accepted and completing commissions for public sculptures. Some are less abstract, liked the Mermaid Fountain in San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square. One of her key beliefs is that “art is for everybody.” As part of that belief, she got friends, family, and children across the city to shape San Francisco history in Clay, which she had cast into bronze as part of a commissioned fountain. This fountain, like the Mermaid fountain, is a San Francisco Landmark. She designed the Garden of Remembrance at San Francisco State University to remember the Japanese American internment. The Garden has with ten boulders representing the ten internment camps. The San Francisco Bay Area is full of her public art.
Her belief that “art is for everybody” lead her to advocate for Arts Education in San Francisco. The San Francisco Arts High School is named for her. Incredibly, she did all of the above while raising six children in an incredible house in Noe Valley. I recommend checking out the photos and write up about her house in the retrospective exhibit.
A Traveling Exhibition
There is so much more to Ruth Asawa and her work than what I described. At the exhibit, I saw a number of books for sale that were written on Asawa and her work. An Amazon search reveals many relevant books, both about her and by her. The website ruthasawa.com contains a lot of information. The SFMOMA exhibit will remain open through September 2. The Ruth Asawa retrospective then will move to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in October. After that, it will be shown in Spain and then Switzerland.
You may have heard about the Maybe Happy Ending casting controversy, but in you have not, here is a quick summary. We have mentioned that 
NBC News Asian America reports that 
