About Ruth Asawa
Named for our founding artist
Ruth Asawa
Ruth Asawa is a Japanese-American artist who is nationally recognized for her wire sculpture, public commissions, and her activism in education and the arts.
Innovative Programs
In 1968, Ms Asawa co-founded the Alvarado School Arts
Workshop, with friend and fellow parent, Sally Woodbridge. It was an innovative
program that involved parents and professional artists in the public schools so
that young children had the chance to develop more fully as individuals.
Ms. Asawa became a member of the San Francisco Arts Commission and began lobbying politicians and charitable foundations to support arts programs that would benefit young children and average San Franciscans. She went on to serve on the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and became a trustee of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. As an arts advocate, her focus has always been on arts education.
Our New Name
On February 23, 2010, the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education, with support of the SOTA community, adopted Board Resolution No. 102-9A1 re-named the school for one of its founding artists, the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, A Public School, and recognized Ms. Asawa "as a living treasure that will be cherished as long as she remains among us and will be remembered as long as the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and San Francisco, the city we all love and Ms. Asawa has graced for over sixty years, remain."
For more information on the life and accomplishments of Ruth Asawa, please visit: www.ruthasawa.com