Public Programs

Kids ages 9 to 14 learn to create their own prints under the direction of La Mano Press artist, Gabriela Martinez. A Los Angeles arts institution dedicated to the promotion and appreciation of printmaking, La Mano Press aims to enhance the public's knowledge of graphic arts through exhibitions, onsite workshops, and publications.

Space is limited and advance payment required. $20 members, $30 non-members. Includes materials. Reservations recommended.

Organized by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, this exhibition of more than fifty sculptures and works on paper recognizes one of the most important women artists of the century.

Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Sculpture of Ruth Asawa: Contours in the Air is a brilliant retrospective of the artist's richly varied career. A Nisei who was incarcerated in Rohwer Concentration Camp, Asawa went on to become a highly influential figure in the history of American modernism and is recognized nationally for her activism in arts education. Daniell Cornell, Associate Curator of American Art at the de Young Museum and editor of the exhibition catalogue, talks to Aiko Cuneo (Asawa's daughter) about the artist's work, life, and legacy. Moderated by Karin Higa.

Sponsored, in part, by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

The exhibition catalogue is available through the Museum Store Online or by calling the toll-free Store Order Line at 888.769.5559.

Ruth Asawa started an art program at Alvarado Elementary School, the public school her children attended. Co-founded by Sally Woodbridge in 1968, the program included classes in sculpture, ceramics, drawing, mosaic, and painting, and was integrated into the school's curricula. Teachers and parents are invited to learn innovative ways of teaching art to children in an enlightening afternoon that includes a screening of Each One Teach One: The Alvarado School Art Program (directed by Valerie Soe and Asawa), and a presentation by Woodbridge and Paul Lanier, Asawa's son and former Alvarado School student and teacher. Light refreshments to follow. Reservations recommended.

Made possible, in part, by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles.

In 1965, Ruth Asawa's friend and teacher, Josef Albers, recommended her for a fellowship at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop. Based in Los Angeles at the time, the Workshop, funded by the Ford Foundation, was the most recognized printmaking workshop in the country. Join June Wayne, artist and co-founder of the Workshop, and Ernest de Soto, artist and one of Asawa's printers at Tamarind, as they share their fond memories of Asawa's work with Tamarind lithographers. Tobey Moss (Tobey Moss Gallery, West Hollywood) also joins Wayne in conversation and presents some of Asawa's most remarkable works on paper. Free with Museum admission. Reservations recommended.

In conjunction with Wack! Art and the Feminist Revolution at the Geffen Contemporary, Museum of Contemporary Art

Ruth Asawa was probably unaware that she was flouting an artistic tradition that considered sculpture as a primarily masculine enterprise. Instead of creating pedestaled works of stone or bronze, Asawa selected wire as the material to create her most memorable works, which she then hung from the ceiling as if suspended in mid-air. Art Historian Laura Meyer, assistant professor, Department of Art & Design at California State University, Fresno, talks with artists Anna Sew Hoy, Elizabeth Turk, and Yuriko Yamaguchi about the gendering of sculpture to challenge notions that associate art with masculinity and craft with femininity. Reservations recommended.

A Workshop with Aiko Cuneo

"How did she do that," is often the first reaction to Ruth Asawa's wire sculptures. Wonder no more because during this workshop, Aiko Cuneo demonstrates the basic technique her mother used to create her remarkable wire sculpture forms. Space is limited and reservations highly recommended to 213.625.0414. Workshops are from 2-3 pm and 3-4 pm. $5 Museum members, $8 non-members includes Museum admission and materials.

Organized by the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, this exhibition of more than fifty sculptures and works on paper recognizes one of the most important women artists of the century.