Ruth Asawa’s inspirational art lessons gave us a sense of the possible

Ruth Asawa in California in 1954. ‘Ruth was an inspirational teacher who instilled in every child a love of making art.’ Photograph: Nat Farbman/The Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

I would like to thank Katy Hessel for her article on Ruth Asawa and art education (‘Art makes a person broader’: what sculptor Ruth Asawa knew that Rishi Sunak doesn’t, 9 January). In 1968, at the age of 10, and for three years after that, I had the huge privilege of being part of Ruth Asawa’s Alvarado School Arts Workshop in San Francisco.

Ruth was an inspirational teacher who instilled in every child a love of making art. I believe all of us came away from the experience feeling capable of making anything – and making it beautiful.

I have since pursued a very different career in university teaching and academic research, but know that the sense of the possible she helped instil informs how I aspire to teach, and how I approach every new project. Forcing students through an ever narrowing curriculum might give them a few useful tools – including maths – but it won’t give them the confidence to use them well.
Tim Hitchcock
London