Oakland artist restores historic Transbay Terminal benches
Scott Morris, Hoodline Published 1:58 pm PDT, Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Hoodline and SF Gate report on restorations taking place at American Steel Studios

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VISIONS OF PARADISE / Art and the Power of Faith
August 21-November 7, 2010

Curated by acclaimed SF gallerist Virginia Breier, Visions of Paradise explores the connection between artistry and spirituality. Arlene is honored to be included in this survey that juxtaposes religious artworks from diverse cultures and historical periods.

April 16, 2010: Celebrating Americana Art and Culture: Past and Present

Arlene Elizabeth has been chosen once again to represent the Academy of Art University at the De Young Museum College Night event Celebrating Americana Art and Culture: Past and Present, Friday April 16 2010 from 6-9pm in Golden Gate Park. Please join us for fun and art!

Bamiyan Buddha Project- A Reincarnation

The Giant Buddhas of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan are a link to a time when Afghanistan was at peace with itself. In antiquity, the Bamiyan Valley was the administrative center of the Hindu Kush region and the seat of a powerful Buddhist kingdom that lasted for hundreds of years. When its peoples were neighbors to one another, and when Westerners were merely visitors with strange ways, not invading forces or peacekeepers or soldiers or policemen. A land recently ruled by a king who was a reformer, expanding education, granting rights to women and greater freedom to all. A time before Bin Laden, Mullah Omar, suicide bombers and the Taliban, ruined cities, foreign occupations and sacked cultural treasures; a time before religious intolerance. Marco Polo encountered the Buddhas as did Genghis Khan, who spared visiting his wrath upon them during his path of conquest and pillage. In 1951 a stamp was printed by Afghanistan to celebrate the colossi, once revered as an integral piece of its past. People on spiritual quests navigating the so called hippy trail pass through the Bamiyan Valley, following the Silk Road in search of enlightenment, peace, freedom or nirvana, as many had done for centuries preceding them. Yet despite that history, in 2001 a sequence of unfortunate decisions resulting from a volatile mix of religion and politics spelled the ruin of these statues. That March, over the course of two weeks, a hole was ripped in the continuity of Afghan culture, the world lost a heritage site and the landscape of Afghanistan was marred by this defiant and violent absence.

The Buddha Project is an act of restoration, coordinating an international crane folding effort to reincarnate the larger 175ft Bamiyan statue as a quarter-sized mosaic. By using origami peace cranes to painstakingly create a quarter sized mosaic on fabric, the Buddha Project will fill the void created by bomb blasts. Participants will fold cranes a using the format of a quilting bee, stimulate conversation and an international discussion The discourse will encourage the shared experiences about what we have learned since the destruction and what we are learning as part of the reconstruction of the Bamiyan Buddha both globally and locally. Where intolerance and hate destroyed the physical statues, compassion, understanding and love will resurrect a powerful symbol of them.

The project will take one year to complete and will have both constructive and educational components that participants can interact with and contribute to from anywhere in the world. The resulting work will serve to illustrate how something seemingly insurmountable can be achieved one-step-at-a-time. The principle of this project is respect for world culture and spirituality---intentionally avoiding the polemics of politics and religion---a physical demonstration of cooperation and peace; an artistic healing process. The mosaic will be donated to Bamiyan archeological efforts that serve to support local families, who undertake such tasks. The objective of their labor coupled with this collective journey is the recovery of some of Afghanistan’s other lost treasures, slowly reestablishing the tangible cultural links to continuity that were lost when the statues were destroyed. The Buddha Project will replace those treasures with collectively created ones, and model a global process of recovery.
Arlene Elizabeth 2010 Oakland, California

Arlene Elizabeth's work to benefit Alameda County Family Justice Center
California artist Arlene Elizabeth's donated portrait of president Barack Obama will be auctioned to generate funding for the Alameda County Family Justice Center at their second annual gala on Saturday January 31st, 2009.

The Justice Center is a collaborative of non-profit, social justice, government and law enforcement agencies ensuring the safety, healing and empowerment of victims through comprehensive, coordinated, and accessible services. During the initial stageing of the center, Arlene worked to coordinate art donations to help in creating a healing, warm and inviting space for its users.

This event will take place at the Rotunda Building of the Oakland Civic Center located at 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland.

The Alameda Family Justice Center is located at:
470 27th street
Oakland, CA
94612
510 267 8800
www.acfjc.org/

NextArt Presidential Inauguration Simulcast San Francisco Civic Center

Arlene will install her Obama mosaic portrait at the Presidential Inauguration Simulcast in S.F.---produced by NextArts. All are invited to contribute comments to the canvas, stimulating participation in the moment and transforming the artwork into a postcard of this unique moment in time. This event takes place from 7am till noon on January 20th.

San Francisco Civic Plaza
Polk St & McAllister St
San Francisco, CA 94102
www.nextarts.org/aboutus/calendar.php

Academy Alumni Win Space in De Young Museum Exhibit
www.academyart.edu/news/academynews.jsp?type=CampusNews&article=/news/campus_news_0356.html

Arlene Elizabeth at the DeYoung Museum

De Young Museum, San Francisco.: A Tribute to Asian American Art and Cultural Expressions, group show, November 2008.

de Young
Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
San Francisco, CA 94118

Contact
Tel: 415.750.3600
Email: guestbook@famsf.org