Garden of Remembrance

 Posted by on September 28, 2012
Sep 282012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

Head by Shu-hie Yang – Student work

This piece resides in the Garden of Remembrance.

The Garden of Remembrance is located in the quiet courtyard between Burk Hall and the Fine Arts Building, it was dedicated in 2002. It honors the 19 former SF State students who were pulled from their classes under U.S. military and government orders and forced to live in remote camps across the country during World War II, along with the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who suffered the same fate.

Designed by Japanese American artist and honorary SF State Master of Fine Arts recipient Ruth Asawa, the garden contains 10 boulders that serve as symbolic reminders of the different internment camps. A waterfall on the east side of the memorial represents energy and renewal, and the Japanese Americans’ return to their homes. The garden also features a plaque, which provides historical information regarding internment and the SF State Students directly affected by it.

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  5 Responses to “Garden of Remembrance”

  1. Looks like a beautiful spot…love the cascading boulders…

  2. Not America’s finest hour, and hopefully not to be forgotten, or repeated. And a garden is a Japanese way to remember.

  3. The middle shot is amazing. What a gorgeous gardenscape!

  4. At first I laughed. It looked so funky. Then I read the commentary. I stopped laughing. The garden is delightful. It’s a terrific memorial. I’m going to go to a friend’s house this morning to take some photos for her – she’s Japanese and does fantastic floral arrangements. As I recall, her family was caught up in the WWII internments. Not our finest hour.

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