Ruth Asawa internment camp ID

Object Details

Exhibition Label: Born Norwalk, California; Artist and arts education advocate Ruth Asawa was attracted to making art at an early age. In 1942, while being held in a temporary incarceration camp for Japanese Americans in Arcadia, California, she studied drawing and painting with professional artists who were also internees. A year later, Asawa received a scholarship to train as an art teacher. Because postwar prejudice toward Japanese Americans prevented her from finding a student-teaching placement, she was unable to complete her degree. Subsequent art studies at North Carolina’s progressive Black Mountain College encouraged Asawa to become a sculptor. She married, settled in San Francisco and—despite the demands of a growing family—pursued her career as an artist. Her early work showcased her technique for weaving coils of wire to create airy and evocative sculptures. Later, Asawa’s scope expanded to include large-scale public art commissions, such as the Hyatt on Union Square Fountain (1973) in San Francisco.

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the children of Ruth Asawa

1943

Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image/Sheet: 3.5 × 2.3 cm (1 3/8 × 7/8"); Mount: 6.3 × 10.1 cm (2 1/2 × 4")

National Portrait Gallery

Topic: Equipment\Sign; Ruth Aiko Asawa: Female; Ruth Aiko Asawa: Arts and Culture\Visual Arts\Artist\Sculptor; Portrait

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4b3200dd6-1ecb-421e-aa9d-727e39d491b4