Ruth Asawa with hanging wire sculpture, 1951. Photo © Imogen Cunningham Trust. Artwork © 2024 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
The White House has announced that Ruth Asawa is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, the United States government’s highest award given to artists and art patrons. Established in 1984, the National Medal of Arts is presented by the President of the United States to those who are “deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States.” Asawa is only the second visual artist to receive this high honor posthumously.
President Joe Biden honored the award recipients in a ceremony at the White House on October 21, 2024.
Asawa’s relationship with the NEA goes back to the 1970s. She was first appointed to the National Endowment for the Arts in 1974. She was appointed to Education: “Artists in Schools”.
She also served on the National Endowment for the Arts in 1977 where she was appointed to the Task Force on Education, Training, & Development of Professional Artists and Arts Educators. In the same year, she also served on President Jimmy Carter’s Commission on Mental Health where she was appointed to Task Force on Role of Arts in Mental Health.
Asawa was also an NEA Artist in Residence in 1980.