A New Ruth Asawa Exhibition Space Set to Open in San Francisco

San Francisco is set to open a new permanent exhibition space dedicated to late modernist sculptor Ruth Asawa. This event coincides with the centenary of Asawa’s birth year, solidifying her legacy of artwork, public engagement, and education advocacy within the city. The space, managed by Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., will launch on May 9 at the Minnesota Street Project in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. The inaugural exhibition, curated by Asawa’s daughters, Addie Lanier and Aiko Cuneo, will feature rarely shown looped wire sculptures, cast artworks, and other pieces like watercolor paintings and paperfolds.

The gallery, measuring 1,1714 square feet, includes design elements reminiscent of Asawa’s home, such as a redwood wall and furniture inspired by her house. It will offer visitors a replica of Asawa’s coffee table with sketchbooks available for drawing. Future exhibitions will display lesser-known works by Asawa alongside pieces by her contemporaries, including Josef and Anni Albers and Imogen Cunningham. The venue will also host exhibitions for students and faculty from the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, underlining Asawa’s role in advocating for arts education.

Aimee Le Duc, executive director of Minnesota Street Project, emphasized the alignment between Asawa’s lifelong commitment to the arts and the project’s mission to support sustainable, long-term spaces for art. Asawa’s influence continues globally, with recent exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the naming of a Mercury crater in her honor, affirming her enduring impact on the arts.