Fine Arts Gallery to receive $5OK grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

San Francisco — The Fine Arts Gallery at San Francisco State University has been approved for a $50,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support “Reflecting on Ruth Asawa’s Garden of Remembrance.” The Garden of Remembrance, nestled between Burk Hall and the Fine Arts building, honors 19 Japanese American SF State students forcibly removed during World War II and sent to internment campus. San Francisco artist Ruth Asawa, herself a former camp internee, designed the garden.

“Reflecting ...” uses the artist’s commemorative public art installation to inspire an ongoing exchange about Japanese American incarceration during World War II and its broader repercussions and brings the work of Mark Baugh-Sasaki, Tina Michiko Kashiwagi, Paul Kitagaki Jr., Lisa Solomon, and TT Takemoto into dialogue with Asawa’s masterpiece. Slated for spring 2024, the project includes the creation of new work based on historical sources; an exhibition featuring both new and historical work; outdoor programs in Asawa’s Garden including temporary sculptural installations, performances, and talks; public programs at partner institutions including community centers, archives, and historical museums at the incarceration sites; and a publication documenting all aspects of the project.

“Reflecting on Ruth Asawa’s Garden of Remembrance” is among 1,125 projects across America totaling more than $26.6 million that were selected during this second round of Grants for Arts Projects fiscal year 2022 funding.