User:HalaS2/sandbox

Contribution to Ruth Asawa's Wikipedia Page
In the 1960s, Asawa began receiving commissions for large-scale sculptures in public and commercial spaces in San Francisco and other cities. Awasa installed her first public sculpture, Andrea (1968), after dark in Ghirardelli Square, hoping to create the impression that it had always been there. The sculpture depicts two cast bronze mermaids in a fountain, one nursing a merbaby, splashing among sea turtles and frogs. The artwork generated much controversy over aesthetics, feminism, and public art upon installation. Lawrence Halprin, the landscape architect who designed the waterfront space, described the sculpture as a suburban lawn ornament and demanded the artwork's removal. Asawa countered: "For the old, it would bring back the fantasy of their childhood, and for the young, it would give them something to remember when they grow old." Many San Franciscans, especially women, supported Asawa’s mermaid sculpture and successfully rallied behind her to protect it.