Ruth Cravath

Ruth Wakefield Cravath (1902–1986) was an American stonework artist and arts educator, specifically known for her public sculptures, busts and bas-reliefs in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Biography Ruth Barrows Cravath was born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 23, 1902 to Ruth Myra Rew and James Raney Cravath.

In high school Cravath attended summer art classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. Cravath attended college at Grinnell College in Iowa for one year before moving to California in 1921 to join her family. She attended California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and studied with Beniamino Bufano and Ralph Stackpole. She learned "cut direct" sculpting techniques from Stackpole. In the same year, she co-founded the San Francisco Summer Art School for Children with Marian Trace. In 1928 she married Sam Bell Wakefield III. Her three statues surrounded the "Fountain of Western Waters" in the "Court of Pacifica" area of the Exposition and included a large sculpture named "Alaskan boy spearing a fish". In 1945, Cravath began teaching art at Mills College in Oakland. She had lived near artist Jean Halpert–Ryden in the 1960s.

Public works Cravath's best known work in the San Francisco Bay Area was her 27-foot-tall, cast-concrete and steel-reinforced statue of St. Francis that stood at the entrance of Candlestick Park from 1973 until 2015.

San Francisco Bay Area 1929, Fountain in Tennessee Marble, Emanu-El Sisterhood Residency (now called San Francisco Zen Center, the fountain has been removed), San Francisco 1930, Bar Maid, The Pacific Stock Exchange Lunch Club (now called The City Club), San Francisco Athletic Award Tablet, Tamalpais School (now called Marin Academy), San Rafael