Invitation to Create Just Like Ruth Asawa

In honor of Women’s History Month, we invited the children to create like artist Ruth Asawa, a Japanese American sculptor whose work celebrated curiosity, nature, and the joy of making things by hand. Asawa was known for her intricate sculptures made from galvanized wire, stone, and bronze. Her organic, nest-like forms were inspired by traditional Mexican basket-weaving techniques she observed during a trip to Mexico. Her work shows how simple materials can be transformed into beautiful, flowing shapes through patience, experimentation, and imagination.

Creating was always an important part of Ruth’s life. As a child she loved drawing and making things with her hands, and that passion stayed with her throughout adulthood. She believed strongly that children should have access to creative experiences from an early age. In fact, she co-founded the Alvarado School Arts Workshop, a program that brought parents and professional artists into public schools so children could regularly engage with the arts and explore their creativity.

Ruth Asawa once said:“A child can learn something about color, about design, and about observing objects in nature. If you do that, you grow into a greater awareness of things around you. Art will make people better, more highly skilled in thinking and improving whatever business one goes into, or whatever occupation. It makes a person broader.”

To create this invitation, we began by reading A Life Made by Hand: The Story of Ruth Asawa, written and illustrated by Andrea D’Aquino & A Line Can Go Anywhere: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa Hardcover – Picture Book, February 25, 2025 by Caroline McAlister (Author), Jamie Green (Illustrator). After learning about her life and looking closely at images of her sculptures, the children were invited to create their own interpretations. We printed photos of her artwork to display for inspiration, cut shapes similar to her forms from recycled cardboard, and provided wire for the children to wrap and weave around their structures.

Through this experience, children were able to explore sculpture in a hands-on and meaningful way. Working with materials like wire and pipe cleaners strengthens fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and problem-solving as children figure out how to bend, twist, and shape their materials. It also encourages persistence, creativity, and flexible thinking as they experiment with different ways to build and design their sculptures.

When preschoolers explore the work of artists like Ruth Asawa and are given open-ended materials, they begin to see themselves as artists too—learning that there is no single “right way” to create and that their ideas and imagination can take shape in many unique ways.