ABOUT EFIAF
Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation, Inc. (EFIAF), a 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2004, is dedicated to building a global culture of understanding, peacebuilding, human rights education, and cultural diplomacy through the transformative power of collaborative art-making with artists, students, scholars and institutions from more than 52 countries. EFIAF teaches through a process of participatory artistic engagement, interdisciplinary research, creative discovery, and expression in order to promote leadership, global citizenship, outreach, and engagement in world affairs.
The core values that guide the organization include the belief that art and culture matter in preventing the destruction of civilization, protecting cities, and rekindling the human spirit; that cultural diplomacy, peacebuilding, and leadership training are essential to our future.
EFIAF strengthens societies and advances the possibility of peace through international cooperation, programs and activities. We:
- Create and exhibit original visual art
- Collaborate with artists, youth, scholars and experts
- Promote Peacebuilding and social justice education
- Provide arts training and mentorship
- Teach cultural diplomacy
EFIAF projects include:
- The Breathing Project
- Cities of Peace Illuminated®
- The Treasure Suite of Cities of Peace
- The Book of Judith
- Hanukkah Illuminated: A Book of Days
Cities of Peace Illuminated® is the flagship initiative of the Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation, a U.S. based organization founded in 2004. Created with participation by artists, students, scholars and institutions from more than 52 countries, Cities of Peace Illuminated includes a collection of monumental gold-illuminated paintings honoring the history and culture of world cities that have experienced devastating conflict and trauma.
Neither violent nor polemic, the works celebrate the best of the human spirit, emphasizing understanding as a prerequisite to peace.
The paintings draw upon artistic traditions unique to each city honored, traditions as diverse as illuminated 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.
The Cities of Peace Illuminated® Treasure Suite is an intimate, limited edition of hand-illuminated giclée prints honoring the history and culture of world cities that have experienced major conflict and trauma, including Baghdad, Beijing, Hiroshima, Jerusalem, Kabul, Lhasa, Monrovia, New York, Sarajevo, Yerevan, Pristina and Auschwitz. The Cities of Peace Treasure Suite transforms anguish into beauty, emphasizing understanding as prerequisite to peace and celebrating the best of the human spirit. Elegantly boxed with Asahi silk and 24 karat gold lettering by Vogel Bindery, each piece measures 13” x 13” and is based on one of the twelve monumental Cities of Peace paintings. To honor the dead, crimson leaf — the color of our blood — is placed in each piece. The Cities of PeaceTM Project is a commemorative body of work conceived by New York artist Ellen Frank and produced at her Illumination Atelier with trained interns and scholars from the United States, China, Colombia, Estonia, Poland, and elsewhere. Cities of Peace Treasure Suite is accompanied by printed texts for audiences of all ages and Persuasions. The Cities of Peace Treasure Suite, produced in a limited edition of 20, may be purchased as a suite of nine, each hand-illuminated with 22-karat gold, red, moon or white gold, palladium and crimson leaf.