The Andrea’s Fountain at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco is a remarkable work by the late Japanese-American artist Ruth Asawa. In 2022, Asawa was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor given to artists in the United States. On October 21, President Biden presented this prestigious award to her descendants during a ceremony at the White House.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Asawa passed away in 2013 at the age of 87. She was renowned for her abstract wire hanging sculptures and numerous public art projects, including several prominent fountains throughout the Bay Area.

Henry Weverka, Asawa’s grandson, shared his thoughts with the Chronicle during his journey to the White House for the award ceremony. He said, “My grandmother was a first-generation Japanese American, born to immigrant farmers just outside of Los Angeles. She grew up during the Great Depression and, at the age of 16, was forcibly relocated to an internment camp during World War II due to her Japanese heritage. Despite this, Asawa always considered herself an American artist.”

Weverka quoted his grandmother reflecting on her internment experience: “I bear no resentment for what happened. I don’t blame anyone. Sometimes, beauty emerges from adversity. If it weren’t for my internment, I wouldn’t be who I am today. And I like who I am now.”

Asawa’s daughter, Addie Lanier, accepted the medal on behalf of her mother, accompanied by family and friends, including Weverka, Asawa’s son Paul Lanier, and gallery representatives David Zwirner and Jonathan Laib.

Past recipients of the National Medal of Arts from the Bay Area include painter Richard Diebenkorn (1991), Wayne Thiebaud (1994), architect Lawrence Halprin (2002), and actress Rita Moreno (2009).

Asawa was inspired to create her looped-wire sculptures during a trip to Mexico in 1948, which became her signature while studying at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. She had previously studied at the Milwaukee State Teacher’s College but did not receive her degree due to her Japanese ancestry.

In 1998, after a 52-year journey, she finally earned her degree—a testament to her perseverance. She met her husband, Albert Lanier, at Black Mountain College, where many of her most notable works were created in the studio of their home in Noe Valley, San Francisco.