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CONTOURS IN THE AIR
by catherine bailey and simone earnhardt
Ruth Asawa is an all-around inspiration to us. It's possible you've seen one of her fountains along the Embarcadero, in front of the Hyatt Union Square or her sculptures in the atrium of the De Young Museum. We've been fond of her incredible basket-like woven sculptures for some time but it wasn't until a recent trip to the De Young Museum that we set out learn more about her background in the Bay Area. What we found — it's no coincidence that we were drawn to her work. She attended the same college as Claude Stoller, the original architect of the Heath building. She shares a similar immigrant farming background with Edith Heath as well as a strong Bauhaus influence (from her instructor Josef Albers at Black Mountain College). Her architect husband, Albert Lanier, worked for Mario Corbett on some of our favorite mid-century residences in the hills of Sausalito. Perhaps most importantly, she's been an incredible arts advocate, working to bring art into the San Francisco schools with her Alvarado School Art Program. "Art is for everybody. It's not something that you should have to go to the museums in order to see and enjoy."
Ruth was raised on a farm in Southern California, where she would ride on the back of her family's leveler, trailed by horses, dragging her feet, making impermanent works of art in the soil. At the age of 16, her family was interned in a Japanese Internment Camp, where her long days on the farm were replaced by hours of drawing — learned and created with the help of other interned artists. In Ruth's words "I hold no hostilities for what happened; I blame no one. Sometimes good comes through adversity. I would not be who I am today had it not been for the internment, and I like who I am."
Eventually, Ruth attended Black Mountain College, an experimental arts school in North Carolina continue...
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where she was fortunate enough to study with Joseph Albers and Buckminster Fuller, both of whom we greatly admire. In her words "there is no separation between studying, performing the daily chores of living, and creating one's own work." She has lived this philosophy in a career that has combined success as an artist, mother of six children, and driving force in the introduction of art programs into the San Francisco schools.
Here are some photos from our recent visit to the Rena Bransten gallery in San Francisco.
See a wonderful video of Ruth from 2005, while the De Young was opening.
Also worth taking a look at, this video about our friend and neighbor, June Schwarcz.
HEATH ON TV
Heath & ZuZu restaurant were featured on a segment of In Wine Country on Sunday, February 10. Have a look
MOSAIC WORKSHOPS
Lisa has a few spots left in her Feb 16-17 and April 26-27 mosaic workshops. Take a look at some workshop photos and get more information here. Guaranteed to be a good time...
FACTORY STORE SPECIAL
Seconds of Plaza plates and platters, in all colors, are an additional 20% off through February. No phone orders, please, in-store only and while supplies last. Factory Store Info
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