FRANK--Dr. Ellen Eve. artist, scholar, writer; beloved wife, mother and sister; bringer of joy to all who knew her passed away on December 16, 2021. Born in Los Angeles, CA on April 26, 1946, Ellen lived a life dedicated to peace building, illuminating beauty, and creating positive change through the visual arts. In 2004, she founded Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation, a non-profit global organization dedicated to the transformative power of art to build a culture of understanding and peace. "Cities of Peace Illuminated" is its primary initiative which includes a collection of monumental gold-illuminated paintings honoring the history and culture of world cities that have experienced devastating conflict and trauma. The paintings draw upon artistic traditions unique to each city honored, as diverse as illuminated maps, manuscripts, icons, tapestries, embroidery, architectural mosaics, woodcarvings and metalwork. Crimson leaf, the color of our blood, is tucked into each painting to honor the dead. Throughout her long career, Ellen Frank received many awards including a Fulbright Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts award, Ford Foundation Fellowship and a Pollock Krasner Award in Painting. Dr. Frank studied art history and connoisseurship at Yale, the Courtauld and Warburg Institutes in London, and holds a doctorate in English Literature and the Visual Arts from Stanford. She was Assistant Professor of English Literature at UC Berkeley, where she also completed her undergraduate work. Ellen is alive forever in the hearts of her husband, Steve, and her daughter, Nyssa, as well as every single person who met her. To learn more about her artistic projects and participate in her legacy, visit www.efiaf.org/home/donate. Memorial Service 11am on December 22 at Jewish Center of the Hamptons. "Beauty is the doorway to peace."

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Published by New York Times on Dec. 22, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for ELLEN FRANK

7 Entries

Jess Brand

December 11, 2023

I met Ellen and Steve on retreat in 2007/8. They were both lovely to be around. She was a tremendous friend throughout our journey into the New Year, with warm humour and compassion in every moment. It was a long time after meeting them that I looked up her work and was blown away by the beauty and elegance of the pieces in Cities of Peace. What a legacy! And what a privilege to have met such lovely people.

Joel B. Turner

February 4, 2022

Ellen was an inspiration to me when I was a student at Berkeley in 1975-1979. She opened my eyes to a different way to see literature, i.e. through the lens of an architect or a visual artist. She expressed a personal interest in my work (rare at Berkeley at the time) and influenced my topic selection for my senior thesis, which ultimately won the Chauncey Wetmore Wells Critical Essay Award. Ellen was so full of life and so clearly loved teaching that her classes were always an "experience." She threw a big costume party at a rented studio on College Avenue at the end of one quarter and challenged us all to express something literary in our choice of attire. It was chaos! So different and such fun! I recall that she came as a big cat paying homage to her nickname at Stanford. It was never dull with Ellen in the room. I wonder what she would think about my 37 year career as a horse lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky? She would probably have been as surprised as I was when I found out in the 1980s that she had left Berkeley and had left teaching, had became an artist and moved to the East coast. May she rest in peace. My condolences to the family. You lost a wonderful and inspirational person when you lost Ellen.

Diane Roseman Cherniss

January 3, 2022

I had many classes with Ellen in high school. I was always amazed by her brilliance. It is not surprising that she accomplished so much in her life and left a legacy for future generations. My husband was a good friend of her brother in college. We both send our condolences to her family.

Leslie L.

December 22, 2021

Steve and Nyssa and family I am so sorry for your loss. I probably have known Ellen less time than most of you but this quarantine and the limits of traveling had given me the joy of getting to know Ellen in a closer way.
We shared the challenges of celebrating the Jewish Holidays without getting together with family. We shared brisket recipes and the challenges of finding a brisket in East Hampton in April 2020. We shared my pandemic purchase of a new boat and went for a boat ride on Three Mile Harbor.
Ellen shared her vision of healing the world. Once again the world needed a lot of healing. Her vision is beautiful and will continue to be a source for healing.
Prior to the pandemic and for the past 10 years I have been able to sit across from Cities of Peace- Treasure Suite - The nine paintings in miniature that are hanging in my office - and absorb the beauty that Ellen created.
I helped Ellen and Steve, with a group of determined admirers, repatriate the Cities of Peace collection after it became stranded in Europe during the pandemic.
I am convinced more than ever that her legacy will continue to heal the world and her art will continue to elevate the human spirit. Thank you Ellen for including me in your vision and sharing this opportunity with me. May your memory continue to be for a blessing and shared with so many more.

Mary lynn Engel (Dickman)

December 22, 2021

Steve - I´m so very sorry for your loss. If something can be beautiful, the memorial service was.
Take care
MLE

Joanlevine

December 22, 2021

Ellen was super talented. My condolences on Steve family and friends

Leslie L.

December 22, 2021

My deepest condolences to Steve and Nyssa for the loss of this beautiful soul. Ellen will be sorely missed but the beauty that she created will continue to heal the world. I am so blessed to have known her. May her memory be for a blessing.

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