Thursday, February 22, 2018
Reception at 5 p.m. Lecture at 6 p.m. $15
Limited Seating. Reservations Required.

Lecture by Dr. Ellen Frank, Sparking Light from Darkness: Transforming Anguish into Beauty

The lecture will focus on the work of “Cities of Peace” to celebrate cities in rubble for their unique histories and their power to inspire hope and action among their demoralized citizens. As “Cities of Peace” illustrates the power of artistic engagement to help build a global culture of understanding, it also celebrates the best of the human spirit.

“Cities of Peace” honors the history and culture of various cities that have experienced major conflict and trauma, including Baghdad, Beijing, Hiroshima, Jerusalem, Kabul, Lhasa, Monrovia, New York, Sarajevo, and Yerevan. Frank’s visit to Jerusalem in 1999 inspired her to produce the first painting in the series and to visualize the creation of other works representing additional cities that have survived strife. The series directs action through hopeful energy by celebrating the best of the human spirit, transforming anguish into beauty. For more information about “Cities of Peace” visit: http://www.citiesofpeace.org/

Ellen Frank, Ph.D.
Artist, scholar, and writer, Ellen Frank has received many awards in painting, book design, and scholarship including a Fulbright Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation Fellowship, PollockKrasner Award in Painting, New York State Council on the Arts, and a New York Foundation for the Arts grant. Dr. Frank studied art history and connoisseurship at Yale University, the Courtauld and Warburg Institutes, and holds an interdisciplinary doctorate in English Literature and the Visual Arts from Stanford University. In 2015, she received an Honorary Doctorate for her work with Cities of Peace from the Russian Armenian (Slavonic) University. Dr. Frank was Assistant Professor of English Literature at UC Berkeley where she co-designed and created the first interdisciplinary major “Literature and the Visual Arts”; she was guest Associate Professor at Barnard College and Rutgers University; Visiting Professor at School of Visual Arts and Tyler School of Art. Her first book, Literary Architecture: Essays Toward a Tradition (University of California Press), was awarded the New York Institute for Graphic Arts 50 Best Books; Ronce & Coffin Club Design Award; and “Best Book in 50 Years” by University of California Press.

In 2005, Dr. Frank founded Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation, Inc., a non-profit global organization dedicated to the transformative power of art to build a culture of understanding and peace. “Cities of Peace” is its primary initiative. As artistic director, Dr. Frank has trained artist-interns from more than 25 countries, and unites scholars and experts to work on its joint creations.