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Ruth Asawa (1926–2013) formed lifelike, semi-transparent metal sculpture from innovative materials such as looped or tied metal wire. An internationally renowned sculptor, she also created public art and fountains from bronze and stainless steel. Initially, Asawa studied drawing and painting while confined in Japanese American internment camps during the Second World War. In 1943, she received a scholarship to Milwaukee State Teachers College in Wisconsin (now Wisconsin State College, Milwaukee). However, after three years of training to become an art teacher, Asawa was denied a prerequisite internship because of postwar racism against Japanese Americans. Undeterred, Asawa studied with former Bauhaus instructor Josef Albers (1888–1976) at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. She was a lifelong advocate for art education, and in 1982, she helped found a public arts high school, renamed Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts in 2010. See “California Modernist Women: Groundbreaking Creativity” on display, post-security, in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 and online at: https://bit.ly/CaliforniaModernistWomen
This image was posted on July 11, 2023.