The Andrea’s Fountain at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco is a masterpiece by the late Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa. In 2022, Asawa was posthumously recognized as one of the recipients of the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists in the United States. President Biden presented the award to her family during a ceremony at the White House on October 21 this year.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Asawa passed away in 2013 at the age of 87. She became well-known for her intricate wire hanging sculptures and numerous public art projects, which include several significant fountains in the Bay Area.
Henry Weverka, Asawa’s grandson, shared his thoughts during an interview with the Chronicle while en route to the White House for the ceremony. He reflected on his grandmother’s remarkable journey, stating, “My grandmother was a first-generation Japanese American, born into an immigrant farming family just outside of Los Angeles. She grew up during the Great Depression and was forcibly interned by the U.S. government at the age of 16 due to her Japanese heritage during World War II. Despite everything, Asawa always identified as an American artist.”
Weverka quoted his grandmother’s later reflections on her internment experience: “I have no hatred for what happened. I don’t blame anyone. Sometimes, beauty emerges from adversity. If I hadn’t been detained, I wouldn’t be who I am today. And I like who I am now.”
Asawa’s daughter, Addie Lanier, accepted the medal on her behalf, with family and friends in attendance, including Weverka, Asawa’s son Paul Lanier, and gallery representatives David Zwirner and Jonathan Laib.
Notable National Medal of Arts recipients from the Bay Area include painter Richard Diebenkorn (1991) and Wayne Thiebaud (1994), architect Lawrence Halprin (2002), and actress Rita Moreno (2009).
Asawa’s artistic journey began in 1948 after she was inspired by basket-weaving techniques observed during a trip to Mexico, leading her to create looped-wire sculptures that became a hallmark of her time at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Previously, she attended Milwaukee State Teachers College but did not earn a degree due to her Japanese heritage.
Finally, after 52 years of pursuing her education, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1998. Many of her most celebrated works were created in the studio of her home in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, where she and her husband, Albert Lanier, first met at Black Mountain College.
