Welcome to the Cantor Arts Center

Artist Ruth Asawa’s most recognizable works are probably her delicate hanging wire sculptures. But Asawa, who served on numerous art commissions and boards and was involved in arts education, including founding a public high school for the arts in San Francisco, loved involving others in her art making.

So, Marci Kwon and Aleesa Alexander, co-founders of the newly formed Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center, are particularly pleased with the acquisition of 233 ceramic masks Asawa made of the faces of family, friends, and fellow artists, including Buckminster...

AAAI, as they call it, was introduced earlier this week with the announcement of a major acquisition of 233 ceramic face masks by Ruth Asawa and 141 paintings and works on paper from the private collection of Michael Donald Brown, a longtime Bay Area dealer and collector of Asian American Art.