George Tsutakawa papers
name: label: Creator
content: Tsutakawa, George
label: Names
content: University of Washington
topic: label: Occupation
content: Educators -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
label: Occupation
content: Sculptors -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
label: Topic
content: Sculpture, Modern -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Asian American art
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American art
label: Topic
content: Japanese American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American sculptors
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
label: Topic
content: Asian American educators
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The George Tsutakawa papers were donated to the Archives of American Art by George Tsutakawa in 1991.
creator: label: Creator
content: Tsutakawa, George
setName: label: See more items in
content: George Tsutakawa papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Washington-based sculptor and educator George Tsutakawa measure 1 linear feet and date from 1963 to 1991. The papers document his career as a painter, sculptor, and teacher and include biographical material, correspondence, exhibition files, membership records, project files, and printed material.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: George Tsutakawa (1910-1997) was a Japanese American sculptor, painter, and teacher who primarily worked in Seattle, Washington. Tsutakawa was born in Seattle, but he was educated and raised in Japan from 1917 to 1927. Upon his return to Seattle, he enrolled in high school and later attended the University of Washington School of Art (1932-1937), where he majored in sculpture.

During World War II, his family was sent to the Japanese American incarceration camps, while Tsutakawa served in the U.S. Army from 1941-1945. After the war, he returned to Seattle and in 1947 he married his wife Ayame, whom he had met at one of the Japanese incarceration camps he visited in order to see and help family members during the war. That same year, Tsutakawa also started teaching at the University of Washington, where he resumed his studies and got  his M.F.A. in 1950.

From the late 1950s through 1970s, Tsutakawa rose to prominence for his designs of fountains, usually made from bronze or welded steel. Over the course of his career, he designed fountains for roughly 80 commissions across the United States and Japan. During this time, he continued to teach at the University of Washington until his retirement in 1976. He died in Seattle in 1997.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1963-1991
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.tsutgeor2
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared by Rihoko Ueno in 2020.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Washington-based sculptor and educator George Tsutakawa measure 1 linear feet and date from 1963 to 1991. The papers document his career as a painter, sculptor, and teacher and include biographical material, correspondence, exhibition files, membership records, project files, and printed material.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Also found in the Archives of American Art is an oral history interview with George Tsutakawa conducted 1983 September 8-19, by Martha Kingsbury; an oral history interview with George Tsutakawa conducted 1987 June 26-27, by his daughter Mayumi Tsutakawa; and the George Tsutakawa in Japan video project recordings.