ELLEN FRANK

1946-2021

With heavy hearts we say goodbye to our beloved Ellen Eve Frank. We will cherish every memory of her, her artistic and social visions, her art, her heart and mostly her love and sense for beauty. Her mission for peace and art will live on.

New York Times

ELLEN FRANK ILLUMINATION ARTS FOUNDATION, INC.

Our Mission

Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation, Inc. (EFIAF) is a change agent, using art as a driver of peaceful coexistence among former enemies, people from conflict zones, children of parents who murdered each other, and marginalized populations, even those having no language in common. We build transformative change through peacebuilding and human rights education, cultural diplomacy, interdisciplinary inquiry all of which we do while we are creating museum quality gold-illuminated paintings. Beauty, participatory collaborative arts engagement and creativity becomes doorways to peace.

The core values that guide EFIAF include a belief that art and culture matter in preventing the destruction of civilization and in rekindling the human spirit: that cultural diplomacy, peacebuilding, and leadership training are essential to our future.

Our Founder’s Story

For as long as I can remember, I have dedicated my life to continue the legacy of my courageous family who chose to act for positive social change in a then hostile world. To those of you who know me, I do this as my imperative: to unite peacebuilding and human rights education with visual arts, so aptly called the Art of Illumination.

The works we create with artists, scholars and students the world over, purposely embrace beauty: eschewing images of violence is a governing principle. Neuroscience supports my commitment to beauty. Images of violence stimulate neural pathways to rage, whereas beauty stimulates the brain’s capacity for peace and compassion.