BORN
INTERNMENT
- 1944 Rohwer Relocation Center, Rohwer, Arkansas
EDUCATION
- 1943 High School Diploma
- 1944-6 Milwaukee State Teachers College
- 1944-45 Su Universidada de Mexico
- 1946 Black Mountain College, North Carolina. Studies with Josef Alvers, Ilya Bolotowsky, Merce Cunninghamand Buckminster Fuller.
- 1947 Toluca, Mexico as volunteer art teacher. Sees local craftspeople making wire baskets, this inspires her future work in looped wire.
- 1951 Takes courses in silk-screening, life drawing and painting at San Francisco State College.
- 1952 Takes courses in lettering and commercial design at San Francisco State College.
- 1957 Studies Kobo Daishi calligraphy with Zen Master Hodo Tobase.
- 1966 Masters the technique of face casting from George Neal at George Washington High School in San Francisco, CA.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
- 2007-8 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2007 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 2007 De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
- 2005 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
- 2003 Tobey C. Moss Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
- 1987 San Francisco City College Art Gallery
- 1979 Santa Cruz County Building, Santa Cruz, CA
- 1979 Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA, Cedar Street Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
- 1978 The Fresno Art Center, Fresno, CA
- 1973 The Van Doren Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1973 The Baxter Gallery, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
- 1965 Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2003 Vital Forms, American Art in the Atomic Age, 1940-1960, Brooklyn Museum of Art. Brooklyn, New York
- 2002 Ruth Asawa: Completing the Circle, Oakland Museum of California. Oakland , CA.
- 2002 Parallels and Intersections: Art/ Women/ California, 1950-2000, San Jose Museum of Art. San Jose, CA.
- 2001 Ruth Asawa: Completing the Circle, the Fresno Art Museum. Fresno, CA
- 2001 Leading the Way: Visionary Asia American Woman Artists of the Older Generation, Gordon College in Wenham, MA.
- 2000 Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- 2000 Raumkorper Netze und Andree Gebilde, the Kunthsalle in Basel, Switzerland.
- 2000 Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900-2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
- 1999 Art in Stone: Prints from the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, 1960-1970, Norman Simon Museum. Pasadena, CA
- 1997 The Fabric of Life: 150 years of Northern California Fiber Art History San Francisco State University Art Department Gallery. San Francisco, CA.
- 1996 Generations--the Lineage of Influence in Bay Area Art, Richmond Art Center. Richmond, CA
- 1995 J.J. Bookings Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1995 With New Eyes, the University of Michigan and the San Francisco State University Gallery: Detroit, MI and San Francisco, CA
- 1993 Pacific Rim: Japan California Crafts Museum: San Francisco, CA
- 1992 Bay Area Greats, Syntax Gallery: Palo Alto, CA
- 1991 The Search for Self, Lillian Paley Center for the Visual Arts: Oakland, CA
- 1990 Drawing from Experience: Artists over Fifty, the Euphrat Gallery at De Anza College in Cupertino, CA.
- 1990 Strength and Diversity: Japanese-American Women 1885-1990, The National Japanese American Historical Society and the Oakland
Museum of California: Oakland, CA.
- 1988 Passages: a Survey of California Women Artists, Oakland Museum: Oakland, CA
- 1986 Legends in Fiber Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames, IA
- 1986 In the Advent of Change: 1945-6, Fresno Arts Center and Museum: Fresno, CA
- 1984 Japanese-American Women Artists, Fiber and Metal, Evergreen Galleries: Olympia, WA
- 1982 Three Masters: New Works, The Fiberworks Gallery: Berkley, CA
- 1981 Remember: It's Only Artwork from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Civic Arts Gallery: Walnut Creek, CA
- 1974 An Exhibition of Artwork by Students of Josef Albers, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge.
- 1973 Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective View, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.
- 1972 American Women: 20th Century, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Peoria, Illinois
- 1970 Painters and Sculptors of San Francisco: The Expo 70 Presentation of the San Francisco Art Commission. San Marco Gallery at Dominican College: San Rafael, California.
- 1969 Recent Drawings: Ruth Asawa, Capper Gallery, San Francisco
- 1969 Los Angeles County Fair, Los Angeles, CA
- 1969 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- 1968 The National Invitational Crafts Exhibition, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- 1967 Media Explored, International Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee
- 1967 Made with Paper, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, New York
- 1967 San Francisco Art Institute
- 1967 Sculpture 1967, Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
- 1967 Capper Gallery, San Francisco, CA
- 1966 The 5th Biennial National Religious Arts Exhibition, Cranbook Academy of Art Galleries, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
- 1966 Contemporary Prints from Northern California, IBM Gallery, New York, New York
- 1966 161st Annual Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Pennsylvania Academy of The fine Arts.
- 1955 Annual Exhibition: Paintings, Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.
- 1959 Third Pacific Coast Biennial, Santa Barbara Museum of Art
- 1959 Recent Sculpture USA, Organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York.
- 1959 78th Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, San Francisco Art Association, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Sam Francisco, California.
- 1958 Annual Exhibition: Paintings, Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.
- 1956 20th Annual Drawing and Print Exhibition, San Francisco Art Association, Sam Francisco, CA
- 1956 75th Annual Paintings Exhibition, San Francisco Art Association
- 1956 An Exhibition of Japanese Household Objects in Cooperation with the Japan Committee on International Design, Design Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 1956 University of Illinois Biennial, the American Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
- 1955 Annual Exhibition: Paintings, Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.
- 1955 Sao Paolo Biennial, Sao Paolo, Brazil.
- 1954, 1955, 1958 One person exhibitions at Peridot Gallery, New York, New York.
- 1954 Four Artists, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, California.
- 1953 One person exhibition at Design Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1950 San Francisco Art Association Annual, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- 1949 Addison Gallery, Andover, Massachusetts. Josef Albers, curator.
- 1948 Wire Baskets are exhibited at Black Mountain College, North Carolina
AWARDS
- 2002 Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant to Sculptors and Painters
- 2002 SECA Award, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- 2002 Fleishhacker Eureka Fellowship
- 2001 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award
- 2001 ArtCouncil Grant to Individual Artists
- 2001 Distinguished Woman of 2001, named by the Fresno Art Museum's Coucil of 100
- 1998 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from San Francisco State University.
- 1997 Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute
- The Precita Eyes Mural Cente Lifetime Achievement Award
- 1996 The Ministry of Nursing Homes Art with Elders Honor Award
- San Francisco State University Creative Arts Department recognizes Asawa as a Distinguished Urban Artist.
- 1995 The Asian American Art Foundation, Gold Ring Lifetime Achievement Award.
- The San Francisco Education Fund, Golden Apple Lifetime Achievement Award
- The International Network of Performing and Visual Arts Schools, Artist-mentor in Visual Arts Award.
- 1993 The Woman's Caucus for the Arts Honor Award
- 1989 Arts Award from the Asian Heritage Council
The Cyril Magnin Award, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce: San Francisco, CA.
- 1983 Honorary Masters Degree, the Academy of Arts College: San Francisco, CA
- 1967 Tamarind Lithography Fellowship
- 1959 Woman's Board of the Oakland Museum's Association Purchase Award.
COMMISIONS
- 1987 Old Courthouse Square,: Santa Rosa, CA
- 1977 Debartelo Corporation, Mission Viejo, California
- 1971 Civic Plaza, Phoenix, Arizona
- 1970 Hyatt Hotel, San Francisco CA
- 1968 San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco CA
- 1966 Ghirardelli Square: San Francisco, CA
- 1965 Fox Plaza: San Francisco, CA
- 1965 J.L Hudson: Detroit, Michigan
