What: Art Exhibit
Following Nature: Ruth Asawa in Sonoma County
Dates: January 26 to April 20, 2008
Where: Sonoma County Museum
425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa.
Map
Hours: 11am to 5 pm Wednesday through Sunday
Cost: Museum Admission is $5; $2 for students, seniors and disabled; free for children 12 and under
Phone Number: (707) 579-1500
Website: www.sonomacountymuseum.org
Several of these pieces were shown in the de Young Museum’s 2006 retrospective of Asawa’s work.
In her hometown of San Francisco, Asawa has been called the “Fountain Lady” because so many of the fountains in the city were made by her. For example, there is the mermaid fountain in Ghirardelli Square and the "San Francisco" fountain outside the Grand Hyatt at Union Square.
In Santa Rosa Asawa is best known for creating the fountain at Courthouse Square on the northwest corner of Mendocino and 3rd Streets. Her youngest son Paul, who will be giving a talk at the museum on Feb. 9, helped her with this project.
Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, a farming community in Southern California.(She turned 82 just three days before the opening of this exhibit.) She was the fourth of seven children of Japanese immigrants who worked as truck farmers growing seasonal crops.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she and her family were sent to live in a Japanese Internment Camp. While there, a couple of animators who used to work for Disney gave Asawa and other kids some art lessons.
Later, after leaving the camp, Asawa attended Black Mountain College an innovative, experimental school that was in North Carolina before closing down. Her teachers include the painter Josef Albers, dancer Merce Cunningham, and architect/inventor Buckminster Fuller.
While at Black Mountain, Asawa met Albert Lanier, her husband-to-be. She was also introduced to clay sculptor Marguerite Wildenhain who was looking for artists to join her at her Pond Farm studio at Armstrong Woods.
After Asawa and Lanier moved to San Francisco, they made many trips to Pond Farm and eventually built a summer home in Guerneville (which is still being used by the family today). Asawa is known for creating organic forms, with the shape and curves of her work following those of the natural world. She pays attention to her natural surroundings. Meaning that Armstrong Woods and the Russian River have most likely influenced her work.
Some critics believe that Asawa has been receiving some much-deserved attention lately because artists—and all of us—are becoming more aware of nature. Other critics are surprised that Asawa hadn’t garnered more attention through the years. She started her career off with a bang and was lauded as one of the most innovative artists of her time. Yet, her career didn’t take off as well as many had expected. There are various theories for this. But, the theory that makes the most sense to me is that Ruth Asawa wanted more out of life than to be only an artist. And she put much of her time and energy into those other endeavors. Asawa raised six children. Then, when they were of school age, she threw herself into projects to bring better art education into the public school system. All the while, she quietly resumed creating her art, but didn’t spend much time on promoting it. She created a life the way she created art: harmonious and balanced.
Following Nature: Ruth Asawa in Sonoma County
Dates: January 26 to April 20, 2008
Where: Sonoma County Museum
425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa.
Map
Hours: 11am to 5 pm Wednesday through Sunday
Cost: Museum Admission is $5; $2 for students, seniors and disabled; free for children 12 and under
Phone Number: (707) 579-1500
Website: www.sonomacountymuseum.org
About the Following Nature Exhibit:
The exhibit includes 24 artworks—drawing, paintings, and sculpture—created by Ruth Asawa and in the private collection of her son Paul Lanier.Several of these pieces were shown in the de Young Museum’s 2006 retrospective of Asawa’s work.
About Ruth Asawa:
Ruth Asawa is an American artist famous for her wire sculpture, public commissions, and her activism for arts in education. Her work has been collected by many institutions including the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Oakland Museum of California, the M.H. deYoung Memorial Museum and more.In her hometown of San Francisco, Asawa has been called the “Fountain Lady” because so many of the fountains in the city were made by her. For example, there is the mermaid fountain in Ghirardelli Square and the "San Francisco" fountain outside the Grand Hyatt at Union Square.
In Santa Rosa Asawa is best known for creating the fountain at Courthouse Square on the northwest corner of Mendocino and 3rd Streets. Her youngest son Paul, who will be giving a talk at the museum on Feb. 9, helped her with this project.
Asawa was born in 1926 in Norwalk, a farming community in Southern California.(She turned 82 just three days before the opening of this exhibit.) She was the fourth of seven children of Japanese immigrants who worked as truck farmers growing seasonal crops.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she and her family were sent to live in a Japanese Internment Camp. While there, a couple of animators who used to work for Disney gave Asawa and other kids some art lessons.
Later, after leaving the camp, Asawa attended Black Mountain College an innovative, experimental school that was in North Carolina before closing down. Her teachers include the painter Josef Albers, dancer Merce Cunningham, and architect/inventor Buckminster Fuller.
While at Black Mountain, Asawa met Albert Lanier, her husband-to-be. She was also introduced to clay sculptor Marguerite Wildenhain who was looking for artists to join her at her Pond Farm studio at Armstrong Woods.
After Asawa and Lanier moved to San Francisco, they made many trips to Pond Farm and eventually built a summer home in Guerneville (which is still being used by the family today). Asawa is known for creating organic forms, with the shape and curves of her work following those of the natural world. She pays attention to her natural surroundings. Meaning that Armstrong Woods and the Russian River have most likely influenced her work.
Some critics believe that Asawa has been receiving some much-deserved attention lately because artists—and all of us—are becoming more aware of nature. Other critics are surprised that Asawa hadn’t garnered more attention through the years. She started her career off with a bang and was lauded as one of the most innovative artists of her time. Yet, her career didn’t take off as well as many had expected. There are various theories for this. But, the theory that makes the most sense to me is that Ruth Asawa wanted more out of life than to be only an artist. And she put much of her time and energy into those other endeavors. Asawa raised six children. Then, when they were of school age, she threw herself into projects to bring better art education into the public school system. All the while, she quietly resumed creating her art, but didn’t spend much time on promoting it. She created a life the way she created art: harmonious and balanced.
Additional Exhibits and Events:
Several other museum events and exhibits are planned in conjunction with the main exhibit. Reservations are required for all special programs. Please call (707)579-1500 X.13 or email programs@sonomacountymuseum.org:- Saturday January 26, 2008
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Opening Reception
Free
Celebrate the opening of “Following Nature” - Saturday February 2
11:00am - 5:00pm
Free Family Day
Spend a day at the Museum and participate in our introductory workshop in wire working. Participants will become familiar with the medium while creating a sculpture to take home. - Tuesday February 5
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Teacher Open House
Free
Learn about educational opportunities at a wine, cheese, chocolate and champagne reception from 4-6pm. Stay for a tour of the Following Nature exhibit at 5 pm. - Saturday February 9
4:00pm - 5:30pm
Artist Gallery Talk
A unique opportunity to learn from the artist’s son about Ruth Asawa’s life and work. Paul has collaborated with his mother on many public art works involving clay and is an artist and educator himself. - Saturday March 8
1:00pm - 4:00pm
Adult Wire Looping Workshop
$25/$20 for members
(No Children under 10, please.)
Taught by Aiko (Asawa) Cuneo Learn straight from Ruth Asawa’s daughter, and sometime assistant, the unique wire-looping technique Asawa adapted and developed to make her signature organic sculptures. This workshop is appropriate for beginners as well as experienced makers. - Saturday April 19
2:00pm
Asawa Lecture with Daniell Cornell, Curator of American Art and Director of Contemporary Art Projects at the de Young Museum
$7.50 general, $5 student/senior, $3 Museum members
Join the curator of Asawa’s first major retrospective exhibition in 2006 and author of The Sculpture of Ruth Asawa: Contours in the Air for a uniquely informative lecture on the artist’s life and work in an art historical context. - Jan 26, 2008 - Apr 20
ECOCENTRIC Video Lounge
A compilation of international video shorts that convey various views of our relationship with nature. - Partnered with the Asawa show will be a History Gallery exhibition featuring oral histories provided by the Japanese American Citizens League as well as artifacts related to Kanaye Nagasawa, the “Baron” of Fountaingrove, from the Museum’s permanent collections.
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