RUTH ASAWA
 

BORN

1924   Norwalk, California

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.

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

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.

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