Studies in Light: Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts

Studies in Light:
Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts

The Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA), located in the Diamond Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, is a four-year public high school serving students who excel in visual, performing, and creative arts. SOTA is one of San Francisco’s premier public high schools, providing professional training in ten arts disciplines: creative writing, dance, instrumental music, media and filmmaking, voice and world music, theater technology, and visual arts. Students come from a wide range of ethnic and economic backgrounds.

SOTA also offers a robust college-preparatory program offering nine advance-placement courses and four world languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, and Mandarin. SOTA is the only high school in San Francisco to receive the California Distinguished School Award.

At SOTA, students from diverse communities have the opportunity to work with gifted art faculty and artists-in-residence, who prepare them for concerts, exhibitions, and musical or theatrical productions. Students learn that art comes from within and requires effort to achieve. Through mentoring programs and performances at elementary and middle schools, SOTA students provide a valuable public service that enriches the community.

Students majoring in visual arts complete an intensive four-year course of study that includes drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography. The watercolor, pencil, conté, and ink drawings on display, created by freshmen, junior, and senior art students, are expressions of their daily life. The work is observational and concerned with the affect of light on various surfaces. 

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