Ruth Asawa: Retrospective
April 5, 2025–September 2, 2025
Artist Retrospective
Curated by Janet Bishop and Cara Manes.
Image: Ruth Asawa: Retrospective Exhibition Entrance. SFMOMA, San Francisco.
SFMOMA
151 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
+1-415-357-4000
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SFMOMA Hours
| Monday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Wednesday | Closed |
| Thursday | 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm |
| Friday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Saturday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
| Sunday | 10:00 am – 5:00 pm |
Overview
Today’s LOVE LETTER TO ART is the ABSOLUTELY STUNNING Ruth Asawa: Retrospective at SFMOMA—curated by Janet Bishop and Cara Manes—featuring more than 300 works, from sculpture and drawings to prints, paintings, and design objects that shaped the Bay Area artist’s six-decade career.
Preview of Ruth Asawa: Retrospective. SFMOMA, San Francisco.
The thing that really impressed me the most about both Bucky and Albers is that they made a lifetime commitment—they weren’t interested in ideas that were solved, they were only interested in ideas that didn’t have a shape yet.
— Ruth Asawa, in Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth (1977), speaking about Buckminster Fuller and Josef Albers
Ruth Asawa was a pioneering Japanese American artist celebrated for her intricate looped-wire sculptures.
Born in Norwalk, California in 1926, she was interned with her family at Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas during World War II, an experience that shaped her perspective on community and creativity.
After the war, she studied at the experimental Black Mountain College, where she was mentored by Josef Albers and Buckminster Fuller.
She later settled in San Francisco, becoming a beloved figure in the city’s art community.
In 1949, she married architect Albert Lanier, and together they raised six children while supporting each other’s creative work.
In the 1950s, Asawa developed her signature wire forms—delicate, organic shapes inspired by basket-making techniques she learned in Mexico.
She was a passionate arts education advocate, helping to found what is now the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts.
She also created beloved public fountains and community projects that celebrated inclusivity and creativity.
Today, her work is celebrated in major museums worldwide, including the current retrospective at SFMOMA.
The jewel of the exhibition is the “living room”, inviting visitors to settle into an Asawa-inspired space reminiscent of her Noe Valley home, surrounded by her sculptures and books.
Several of Ruth Asawa’s family members attended the press preview, which is typically limited to journalists and a few select donors. Seeing generations of the Asawa family celebrate their matriarch’s artistry was incredibly moving, offering a rare and personal glimpse into the artist’s life and legacy. Ruth’s grandson, Max Lanier, told me how she would host slumber parties for her grandchildren, filling the evenings with her art projects until the kids eventually asked, “Can we go to bed yet?”
If I didn’t have my own children, I would have never explored working with dough because I would been working in wire or oil paint or plastic or concrete, but because I had six children at home, I had to find things to do with them, and it began with making Christmas ornaments. I think they’re very much the inspiration for working in dough that resulted in the fountain.”
— Ruth Asawa, in San Francisco’s Ruth Asawa by Victor Rosenberg (1979)
I love Ruth Asawa’s work. I can see the Japanese and architectural influences (she was married to architect Albert Lanier) in her sculptures, but there is also a timelessness in them, the kind that the best of the best of artists possess.
When I see footage of her (I highly recommend the documentary Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth, available on Amazon) I’m reminded of my Japanese-American grandmothers and great aunties from the same generation, who also endured the WWII Japanese internment camps. Some of them were fierce, like Ruth. All of them were strong women.
I didn’t learn about Ruth Asawa’s civic involvement until a few years back. My best friend went to the San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) in the 1990s—a school Asawa co-founded—which I occasionally visited on a guest pass. Last year, I attended Radical Resilience, the annual exhibition fundraiser at Ruth’s Table, a Mission-based arts nonprofit named in her honor, to which Asawa donated her own work table. The organization supports the Mission arts community, continuing her work of fostering creativity. Their 2025 fundraiser, Radical Resilience: Holding the Line, runs from Aug. 15–Sept. 26, 2025.
I’ve included a list of Ruth Asawa’s public artworks below. How fortunate we are to have them blended into our cityscapes!
Asawa fans, women artists, weavers, Asian Americans, DO NOT MISS THIS EXTRAORDINARY show celebrating Ruth Asawa’s art and creative spirit.
The exhibition’s accompanying catalogue by Janet Bishop can be purchased at the SFMOMA store for $65.00/$58.50 (members) and on Amazon as well.
🗓 Ruth Asawa: Retrospective is on view until September 2, 2025 at SFMOMA in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena arts district.
✨The exhibition will move on to The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (October 19, 2025–February 7, 2026); Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain (March 20–September 13, 2026); and Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Switzerland (October 18, 2026–January 24, 2027), with its tour coinciding with what would have been Asawa’s 100th birthday on January 24, 2026.
💌 Did you see the show(s) or try any of our recommendations? What did you think? Let us know in the comments (in the Reviews section located on the second tab at the top of the page).
Currently on View at SFMOMA
Coming Soon to SFMOMA
SFMOMA DINING
QUICK GUIDE: SFMOMA
- Ruth Asawa: Retrospective | Ruth Asawa retrospective featuring 300+ works from the artist’s 6-decade career. (Floor 4) | Closes Sept. 2, 2025
- Kunié Sugiura: Photopainting | First U.S. museum exhibition featuring the 6-decade career of artist Kunié Sugiura, whose work fuses photography and painting though an East-West lens. (Floor 3) | Closes Sept. 14, 2025
- Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors | Interactive musical experience. Think: If melodic intensity was visual. Here’s a snippet from when it was on view at The Broad. (Floor 6) | Closes Sept. 28, 2025
- Bay Area Walls: Artist Commissions + Features | Gene Luen Yang: Bay Area Hoops on Floor 2; Jenifer K Wofford: VMD/Vicki Manalo Draves mural on Floor 3. *WOFFORD IS FEATURED IN YBCA’s CURRENT EXHIBITION MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy, which I’ll post about soon; David Huffman: Portals mural on Floor 5.*SEE HUFFMAN’S CURRENT SHOW David Huffman: A Brilliant Blackout at Jessica Silverman on view until Aug. 29, 2025 | Closes June 2026
- People Make This Place: SFAI Stories | Tribute show to the San Francisco Art Institute showcasing works and archival objects by 50+ alumni and faculty. (Floor 2) | Closes July 5, 2026
- New Work: Sheila Hicks | Ex-pat Sheila Hicks’ first solo exhibition at SFMOMA showcases her fiber sculptures and installations of varying sizes, inspired by her seven decades of global travels and life in Paris. (Floor 4) | Closes Aug. 9, 2026
- Kara Walker’s Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine) (Ground Floor) *Post to follow soon | Closes Spring 2026
- Paul Klee + Ray Johnson: TYPOFACTURE | Explores how both artists transformed writing into a visual language, tracing Johnson’s Black Mountain College roots and enduring dialogue with Klee’s symbolic, expressive forms. (Floor 2) | Aug. 23, 2025–April 2026
- Suzanne Jackson: What is Love | Surveys six decades of the artist’s visionary career, highlighting her innovative paintings, interdisciplinary practice, and enduring themes of beauty, connection, and nature. (Floor 7) | Sept. 27, 2025–March 1, 2026
- KAWS: FAMILY | Presents the artist’s first major West Coast survey, showcasing three decades of paintings, sculptures, collaborations, and iconic characters that blend pop culture with themes of kinship, emotion, and shared experience. (Floor 4) | Nov. 15, 2025–May 3, 2026
- Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules | First major retrospective of the photographer, spanning two decades of work that examines migration, inequality, and environmental crisis through visually striking and politically incisive images. (Floor 3) | Nov. 22, 2025–April 19, 2026
⭐ ADMISSION:
- General Admission Adults $30
- Seniors 65+ $25
- Ages 19-24 $23
- 18 & Under FREE.
- *SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS +$15 (Includes access to permanent collections)
- **Membership starts at $130 GA/$110 Senior/$90 Working Artist
- FREE 1ST THURSDAYS (Residents of the 9 Bay Area Counties – next one is Thurs., Sept.4, 2025)
- FREE FAMILY DAYS (up to 4 adults accompanying one child – next one is Sun, Sept. 14, 2025)
- FREE COMMUNITY DAYS
- Discover and Go (Free w/library card – may not apply to all counties)
- SF Museums for All (show your EBT or Medi-Cal card/ID)
- SF Unified Staff Free Admission (at show proof of employment/ID – reserve in-person, not available online)
- Blue Star Museum Discount (FREE Admission to U.S. military personnel and veterans plus up to 5 family members from the 3rd Sat in May until the 1st Monday in Sept.)
- Free General Admission + Guest w/Sotheby’s Preferred Membership.
- Free General Admission + Guest for SFMOMA coporate partners.
- Mike Henderson: Trouble in Mind film screening (Free with RSVP) on August 24, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. / Music 3:45 p.m.
- American Indian Cultural District: Indigenize SF (Free with admission from Aug 16–26, 2025 during museum hours, except on Aug. 22 and 23.) Part of the American Indian Cultural District’s Mapping Genocide Project, this presentation by artist Jackie Fawn exposes San Francisco place names and monuments tied to the genocide of Native peoples while honoring their resilience and survival.
- Christine Sun Kim: Deaf Death (Free for members/$10 GA) Lecture/performance with Christine Sun Kim and Alice Wong on August 28, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
- Last Look for Members — Ruth Asawa: Retrospective on August 30 & 31, 2025 from 10:00–12:00 p.m.
- Alonzo King LINES Ballet x Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors performance (Free with admission) on September 6, 2025 from 12:00–4:00 p.m.
- Drawn Together: (re)Education workshop and panel inspired by Ruth Asawa: Retrospective explores learning processes and creative approaches to education in today’s world. (Free to the public. Museum admission not required) on September 11, 2025 from 6:00–9:00 p.m.
- Rooftop Radio: (((folkYEAH!))) music performances with Now, The Umbrellas, Fake Fruit ($15 for members/$35) on September 18, 2025 from 5:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
- Suzanne Jackson in Conversation with Kellie Jones re: Suzanne Jackson: What is Love (Free with RSVP) on Sept. 25, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
- Weirdo Night variety show performance/workshop on Sept. 4, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.with Dynasty Handbag; Workshops with Oliver Hawk Holden at 5:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
- MAKE! with SCRAP (Free to the public. Museum admission not required) SCRAP educators will help you transform ordinary materials into extraordinary make-and-take art projects EVERY SUNDAY UNTIL DEC. 2025 from 11:00–2:00 p.m.
⭐ SFMOMA DINING (*MEMBERS RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT):
- Steps Coffee (2nd floor) is open Fri-Tues 9:30–4:30 p.m.; Thurs 11:00–6:00 p.m.
- Cafe 5 (5TH FLOOR) is open Fri-Tues 10:30–4:00 p.m.; Thurs 12:00–7:30 p.m. (*Thursday Happy Hour 4:30–7:00 p.m. Includes $6 and $11 beer/wine, cocktails, and a selection of bites.)
- Jane on Third (street level), Amanda Michael’s local café chain named for her daughter, serves housemade baked goods, breakfast, sandwiches, and salads—perfect for a quick snack or leisurely lunch. Open to the public, MUSEUM ADMISSION NOT REQUIRED. Hours: Mon.–Fri. 9:00–5:00 p.m.; Sat.–Sun. 10:00–5:00 p.m.
⭐ RUTH ASAWA PUBLIC ART:
- Growth | 580 Capp St, San Francisco, CA 94110 (Mosaic at San Francisco’s Bethany Center in the Mission)
- Andrea | 900 North Point St Ste 52, San Francisco, CA 94109 (Ghirardelli Square)
- Aurora | 188 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105 (Embarcadero)
- Fountain | 300 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94108 (Union Square)
- Origami Fountains | 1728 Buchanan St, San Francisco, CA 94115 (Japantown)
- The Garden of Remembrance | San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA 94132 (Lake Merced/Ingleside Terrace)
- San Francisco Yesterday and Today | 55 Cyril Magnin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 (Entrance by valet to Parc 55 Hotel in the Tenderloin)
- San Jose: Japanese-American Internment Memorial Sculpture | 280 S Second St, San Jose, CA 95113 (South Bay)
- St. Helena: History of Wine (Beringer winery) | 2000 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574 (Napa County)
- Museums: de Young Museum (tower lobby); Oakland Museum (Sculptures @ Oak Street Plaza Entrance and Craft section of OMCA); The Faces of Ruth Asawa (Cantor Arts Center, Stanford).
⭐ RUTH ASAWA RELATED:
- ON VIEW: Ruth’s Table | Radical Resilience: Holding the Line is the organization’s annual fundraiser exhibition, showcasing works by its community of elder adults and adults with disabilities | Aug. 15-Sept 26, 2025 | 17 min. drive/22 min public transit
⭐ SFMOMA NEARBY ART:
- MUSEUMS: YBCA ON VIEW: Bay Area Then features 20+ artists who shaped the Bay Area art scene in the 90s-2000s. Runs Aug. 1–Jan. 26, 2026 and MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy chronicles Filipino history and cultural influence in the Bay Area. Runs Aug. 1–Jan 4, 2026. (Post to follow soon.) | 1 min. walk
- GALLERIES: Berggruen Gallery ON VIEW: Matt Kleberg: Bless Babel and Nicasio Fernandez: Light Whispers. Runs Aug. 21–Oct. 16, 2025 | 1 min. walk from SFMOMA’S Howard Street entrance.
- PUBLIC ART: Revelation, the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial fountain and several others at Yerba Buena Gardens (see LINK for additional works at Yerba Buena Gardens) | 1 min. walk
⭐ SFMOMA NEARBY DINING
- Tropisueño | Taqueria by day and a full-service restaurant and bar by night with casual, warm vibes.
Taqueria by day and a full-service restaurant and bar by night with a warm, relaxed vibe. | 4 min. walk - Delarosa | Pizza and pasta. BOOK DELAROSA ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 4 min. walk
- Amber India | Upscale Indian food w/ *Mon–Fri LUNCH SPECIALS starting at $18 & $32 Lunch Buffet! BOOK AMBER INDIA ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 4 min. walk
- Metreon Food Hall | Budget-friendly assortment of food vendors i.e. burgers, salads, poke bowls, wraps, ramen. | 4 min. walk
- The Harlequin | Cocktail bar w/Brooklyn vibes serving lunch (Thurs., Sat., Sun.) and dinner. *Check out their FABULOUS HAPPY HOUR 4:00–6:00 p.m. daily featuring $2 oysters and $11 cocktails. BOOK THE HARLEQUIN ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 7 min. walk
A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S CASUAL DINING PICKS
- Oren’s Hummus | Delicious Israeli food in a casual friendly setting. *Check out their AMAZING HAPPY HOUR Mon–Thurs 3:00–5:00 p.m. | 3 min. walk
- Fang | Cantonese cuisine from the Fang family of House of Nanking. As seen on Chef Dynasty: House of Fang (oh, I like that Peter Fang!), chefs Kathy and Peter Fang blend tradition with charm. BOOK FANG ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 4 min. walk
💖 A LOVE LETTER TO ART’S ROMANTIC DINING PICKS
- The Cavalier | I love the English hunting lodge meets chic gastropub vibes, thanks to the vision of designer extraordinaire Ken Fulk. *CHECK OUT THEIR FANTASTIC HAPPY HOURS: Mon–Sat 4:00–6:00 p.m.; Fri & Sat 9:00–10:00 p.m. Includes $10 Cocktails & Apps under $20! The MARLOWE BURGER is a SF classic. BOOK THE CAVALIER ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 7 min walk
- The Pied Piper | Old world bar + food + Maxfield Parrish’s Pied Piper painting in SF’s historic Palace Hotel. BOOK THE PIED PIPER ON OPEN TABLE HERE | 7 min walk
A LOVE LETTER TO ART RECOMMENDS
More nearby suggestions are always welcome. Feel free to add in the comments!
RUTH ASAWA PUBLIC ART
RUTH ASAWA RELATED
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SFMOMA NEARBY ART
SFMOMA NEARBY DINING
RELATED VIDEOS
Excerpts from Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth, 1977. (Watch the full film availble on Amazon HERE.)
SFMOMA ‘s San Francisco’s Ruth Asawa by Victor Rosenberg, 1979
KQED Spark Profile on Ruth Asawa, 2005
The Poetry of Ruth Asawa’s Sculptures by Sotheby’s
RELATED POSTS
Author: ALoveLettertoArt
