Sculptural art
Site-specific and integrated art
Community engagement and social justice
Pittsburgh Creative Corps Artist Directory
Asia Ward
Primary Discipline
Artistic Practice
Assemblage, including found objects, multimedia
Fabrication, including wood, metal, glass
Site-specificity determines materials used
Wetland Grass, 2020. Solar power globes, welded reclaimed steel tubing. 15′ L x 15′ W x 26′ H. Created for Osage Park in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Plume Coloring Contest, 2016. District Energy St. Paul steam plume, projection, public image and video submissions.
Messengers Time Capsules, 2022. Participatory exhibit of three thermal shaped Tardigrade time capsules, created for the We Are Nature: A New Natural History exhibit for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Sammy the Sea Monkey, 2019. PETG (recycled water bottle plastic), dichroic film. 14′ L x 8′ W x 8′ H. Created for Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Solar Tree, 2016. PV system, batteries, charge controller, welded steel. 14′ L x 14′ W x 28′ H. Solar powered off-grid sculpture at Franconia Sculpture Park, MN.
About the Artist
Asia Ward has a portfolio of large-scale public sculptures and installations currently on display at sculpture parks in the Midwest, and her smaller sculptures are on display at major science museum maker spaces around the nation. Ward has a background working with science museums as an education and exhibit project manager, her most recent with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History about the Anthropocene and Climate Change. She has participated in several Artist Residencies around the US and has received grants from the Minnesota State Arts board, Public Art Saint Paul, Institute on the Environment, and the Knight Foundation.
Artist Statement: Asia Ward is a transdisciplinary artist, collaborating with artists and scientists to create accessible installations and artwork communicating complicated systems such as the power grid, the Anthropocene, and positive futures. Her practice includes animatronics, data-driven interactive games, immersive responsive environments, large-scale solar-powered public sculptures, and community-driven projections. She chooses mediums that speak to the systems she is interpreting and employs photovoltaics, basic circuitry, programmable media, and recycled post-industrial plastic and metal.
Photo by Crystal Ann Liepa
Web
Accreditations, Certifications, and/or Awards
- North American Board of Certified Energy Practicers (NABCEP);
- Osage Park, Walton Family Foundation, sculpture commission, Bentonville, AR, 2020;
- MFA University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 2019;
- Scott Family Amazeum, sculpture commission, Bentonville, AR, 2018;
- Photo Voltaic (PV) Design, Installation certification, 2017;
- Nobel Peace Prize Forum, sculpture commission, Augsburg University, MN, 2017;
- Franconia Sculpture Park/Jerome Fellowship, sculpture grant, Shafer, MN, 2015;
- Public Art St. Paul, City Art Collaboratory Artist Grant, St. Paul, MN, 2012-2014;
- BFA Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 2000
Provides Fabrication Services to Other Artists
No
Teaching Artist
Yes, ages 5 and up
Joined the Directory
April 2023
Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
“Art has the ability to transform a sad space into a destination, change the value of cheap and dirty materials into valuable artifacts, and to raise the voice of seldom sung narratives.”
Asia Ward
Contact the Artist
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Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
