Ellen Alt (b. 1954) is a visual artist based in New York City. Her work is rooted in languages, alphabets, symbols. One of her pieces incorporating English, Arabic and Hebrew calligraphy was presented to Hillary Clinton on the occasion of the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan and is in the collection of the White House, Washington, D.C. Since 2012, her mixed media work has focused on Climate Change. This work is constructed from a wide range of materials to reveal the natural beauty of ice in transition while calling attention to the implications of its transformation. The largest work in the series is this ten-piece narrative showing ice melting and releasing writing forms into water. As ice cores hold the history of the planet, thawing ice releases a record of the history of the planet, including all our varied communication, proof that we were and are capable of speaking to one another.
Selected exhibitions include solo shows at Chashama Space for Artists (2018) and Columbia/Barnard University (2012) and group exhibitions at the Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College (2023, 2022), The Belskie Museum of Art and Science (2023, 2018) and Lichtundfire Gallery in New York City (2019).
Alt’s work has been highlighted in InterAlia and Art New England.
Ellen has also worked for decades on community-based art projects around the world to promote understanding. Through the process of painting murals and building concrete sculpture, people get to know each other while working collectively to bring about positive change to their neighborhoods. Alt has facilitated projects in India, the UK, the Middle East and throughout the USA. http://www.ellenaltcommunity.com/
The Climate Change work and her community-based projects are connected by the foundational idea that working together for change is empowered by the creative process. It has been her mission to pursue and share that process locally and globally.
Alt received an MA in studio art from New York University and a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023
HELLER MUSEUM at HEBREW UNION COLLEGE, New York, NY: Tzedek Box Pursuing Justice
BELSKIE MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE, Closter, NJ, Hope Out of Darkness
QUEENS COLLEGE ART CENTER, Queens, NYNew York Society of Women Artists, 60 Together 100 Strong
WILLIAMSBURG ART AND HISTORICAL CENTER, New York, NY, 24th Annual Salon Show
2022
HELLER MUSEUM at HEBREW UNION COLLEGE, New York, NY, SKIRBALL MUSEUM, Cincinnati, OH,
CENTER FOR INTERFAITH COOPERATION, Indianapolis, IN, Holy Sparks CATALOG
NEW YORK ARTIST EQUITY ASSOCIATION GALLERY, Curatorial Residency Program Exhibition, New York, NY, Shifting Balance
EVOLUTION/REVOLTION, New York Society of Women Artists, TALLER BORICUA GALLERY, New York NY
CARTER BURDEN GALLERY, New York, NY, New York Artist’s Circle, Lost and Found
WILLIAMSBURG ART AND HISTORICAL CENTER, New York, NY, The Works Acquired in the Yuko Nii Foundation's Permanent Collection
2021
ANN STREET GALLERY, Newburgh, NY, Black Renaissance Festival
WILLIAMSBURG ART AND HISTORICAL CENTER, New York, NY, America the Beautiful and Togetherness and Oneness
BROOKLYN WATERFRONT ARTISTS COALITION, Brooklyn, NY Recycle and Art Over Time
DRAWING ROOMS, Jersey City, NJ, Rewriting Herstory: An Artsy International Exhibition Honoring Inspiring Women
FRAGILE EARTH, New York Artist’s Circle https://nyartistscircle.com/curated-shows/fragile-earth
SATELLITE COLLECTIVE, Telephone art game played with International artists, https://phonebook.gallery/, https://phonebook.gallery/artists/ellen-alt
2020 - 2018
LICHTUNDFIRE GALLERY, https://nyartistscircle.com/curated-shows/fragile-earth, A Sense of Ice
CHASHAMA: Space for Artists – SOLO SHOW, New York, NYSAVE THE EARTH, Art at First, New York, New York
BELSKIE MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE, Closter, NJ, Freedom: An Artistic Expression
FEMALE GENDER IDENTITY & EQUALITY, New York Society of Women Artists, Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
LIC ARTS OPEN GALLERY @ THE FACTORY LIC, curated by Grace Lerner, I Dream in Blue and Green
DELAWARE VALLEY ARTS ALLIANCE, For What it is Worth, Narrowsburg, NY
2017 - 2013
KRAFT CENTER, SOLO SHOW, Columbia/Barnard University, New York, NY
DREITZER GALLERY, SOLO SHOW, Brandeis University, Boston, MA
GALLERY AT MAYYIM HAYYIM, TWO-PERSON SHOW, Newton, MA
GEORGE BILLIS GALLERY, New York Society of Women Artists, New York, NY, The Primacy of Color
QUADRATFUSS, catalog, Annex Art, Berlin, Germany
HUMAN IMPACTS INSTITUTE, New York, NY, Climate Change Awards
RUSH ART GALLERY, New York, NY, Curate NYC
WESTBETH GALLERY, New York, NY, Ecology: The Difference Perception Makes
ART FAIRS
ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR http://www.asiacontemporaryart.com/artists/artist/Ellen_Alt/en/
Hong Kong, China, March 2018
FOUNTAIN ART FAIR, HULLABALLOO COLLECTIVE
New York, NY, Mar. 2012, Mar. 2013, Mar 2014
Paul Seftel Project Space, New York, NY, Aug. 2012
ARTICLES
Artsy Shark https://www.artsyshark.com/2020/03/04/artists-on-climate-change/, March 2020
Interalia http://www.interaliamag.org/interviews/ellen-alt/, EARTH, Issue 32, April 2017
Art New England http://artnewengland.com/ed_picks/aesthetics-of-disaster/, March/April 2017
Hadassah https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2022/05/17/upcycling-a-bat-mitzvah-dvar-torah/
PRESS
Art Daily, Dec 8, 2018 http://artdaily.com/news/109749/Lichtundfire-opens-an-exhibition-by-eight-artists-whose-work-represents-ice#.XDoD7FxKjIU
Times Herald-record, MARCH 23, 2018 http://www.recordonline.com/entertainmentlife/20180322/climate-change-artistic-theme-in-two-big-exhibits
The Jewish Press: A Jewish Art Salon Exhibit, November 2010
Jewish Artists / Signatures & Monograms / International, John Castagno, Scarecrow Press, August 2010
The Hindu, India, April 26 2009
The Times of India, April 20 2009
Portfolio, Norfolk, VA, August 2008
COLLECTIONS
The White House, Washington, D C
Yuko Nii Foundation, New York, NY
Pzifer Corporate Collection
International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction, Pagosa Springs, CO
Ben Uri Art Society, London, England
LINKS and SOCIAL MEDIA
http://www.ellenaltcommunity.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ellen.alt.9
https://www.instagram.com/ellen_alt_artist
https://www.saatchiart.com/ellenralt
http://nyartistscircle.com/index.php/portfolio-3/
www.newyorksocietyofwomenartists.com/ellen-alt
AWARDS
Art Buzz Publication, Honorable Mention in Mixed Media. 2009
Ish-Shalom Foundation Grant, Israel, 1993
Selected exhibitions include solo shows at Chashama Space for Artists (2018) and Columbia/Barnard University (2012) and group exhibitions at the Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College (2023, 2022), The Belskie Museum of Art and Science (2023, 2018) and Lichtundfire Gallery in New York City (2019).
Alt’s work has been highlighted in InterAlia and Art New England.
Ellen has also worked for decades on community-based art projects around the world to promote understanding. Through the process of painting murals and building concrete sculpture, people get to know each other while working collectively to bring about positive change to their neighborhoods. Alt has facilitated projects in India, the UK, the Middle East and throughout the USA. http://www.ellenaltcommunity.com/
The Climate Change work and her community-based projects are connected by the foundational idea that working together for change is empowered by the creative process. It has been her mission to pursue and share that process locally and globally.
Alt received an MA in studio art from New York University and a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023
HELLER MUSEUM at HEBREW UNION COLLEGE, New York, NY: Tzedek Box Pursuing Justice
BELSKIE MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE, Closter, NJ, Hope Out of Darkness
QUEENS COLLEGE ART CENTER, Queens, NYNew York Society of Women Artists, 60 Together 100 Strong
WILLIAMSBURG ART AND HISTORICAL CENTER, New York, NY, 24th Annual Salon Show
2022
HELLER MUSEUM at HEBREW UNION COLLEGE, New York, NY, SKIRBALL MUSEUM, Cincinnati, OH,
CENTER FOR INTERFAITH COOPERATION, Indianapolis, IN, Holy Sparks CATALOG
NEW YORK ARTIST EQUITY ASSOCIATION GALLERY, Curatorial Residency Program Exhibition, New York, NY, Shifting Balance
EVOLUTION/REVOLTION, New York Society of Women Artists, TALLER BORICUA GALLERY, New York NY
CARTER BURDEN GALLERY, New York, NY, New York Artist’s Circle, Lost and Found
WILLIAMSBURG ART AND HISTORICAL CENTER, New York, NY, The Works Acquired in the Yuko Nii Foundation's Permanent Collection
2021
ANN STREET GALLERY, Newburgh, NY, Black Renaissance Festival
WILLIAMSBURG ART AND HISTORICAL CENTER, New York, NY, America the Beautiful and Togetherness and Oneness
BROOKLYN WATERFRONT ARTISTS COALITION, Brooklyn, NY Recycle and Art Over Time
DRAWING ROOMS, Jersey City, NJ, Rewriting Herstory: An Artsy International Exhibition Honoring Inspiring Women
FRAGILE EARTH, New York Artist’s Circle https://nyartistscircle.com/curated-shows/fragile-earth
SATELLITE COLLECTIVE, Telephone art game played with International artists, https://phonebook.gallery/, https://phonebook.gallery/artists/ellen-alt
2020 - 2018
LICHTUNDFIRE GALLERY, https://nyartistscircle.com/curated-shows/fragile-earth, A Sense of Ice
CHASHAMA: Space for Artists – SOLO SHOW, New York, NYSAVE THE EARTH, Art at First, New York, New York
BELSKIE MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE, Closter, NJ, Freedom: An Artistic Expression
FEMALE GENDER IDENTITY & EQUALITY, New York Society of Women Artists, Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
LIC ARTS OPEN GALLERY @ THE FACTORY LIC, curated by Grace Lerner, I Dream in Blue and Green
DELAWARE VALLEY ARTS ALLIANCE, For What it is Worth, Narrowsburg, NY
2017 - 2013
KRAFT CENTER, SOLO SHOW, Columbia/Barnard University, New York, NY
DREITZER GALLERY, SOLO SHOW, Brandeis University, Boston, MA
GALLERY AT MAYYIM HAYYIM, TWO-PERSON SHOW, Newton, MA
GEORGE BILLIS GALLERY, New York Society of Women Artists, New York, NY, The Primacy of Color
QUADRATFUSS, catalog, Annex Art, Berlin, Germany
HUMAN IMPACTS INSTITUTE, New York, NY, Climate Change Awards
RUSH ART GALLERY, New York, NY, Curate NYC
WESTBETH GALLERY, New York, NY, Ecology: The Difference Perception Makes
ART FAIRS
ASIA CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR http://www.asiacontemporaryart.com/artists/artist/Ellen_Alt/en/
Hong Kong, China, March 2018
FOUNTAIN ART FAIR, HULLABALLOO COLLECTIVE
New York, NY, Mar. 2012, Mar. 2013, Mar 2014
Paul Seftel Project Space, New York, NY, Aug. 2012
ARTICLES
Artsy Shark https://www.artsyshark.com/2020/03/04/artists-on-climate-change/, March 2020
Interalia http://www.interaliamag.org/interviews/ellen-alt/, EARTH, Issue 32, April 2017
Art New England http://artnewengland.com/ed_picks/aesthetics-of-disaster/, March/April 2017
Hadassah https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2022/05/17/upcycling-a-bat-mitzvah-dvar-torah/
PRESS
Art Daily, Dec 8, 2018 http://artdaily.com/news/109749/Lichtundfire-opens-an-exhibition-by-eight-artists-whose-work-represents-ice#.XDoD7FxKjIU
Times Herald-record, MARCH 23, 2018 http://www.recordonline.com/entertainmentlife/20180322/climate-change-artistic-theme-in-two-big-exhibits
The Jewish Press: A Jewish Art Salon Exhibit, November 2010
Jewish Artists / Signatures & Monograms / International, John Castagno, Scarecrow Press, August 2010
The Hindu, India, April 26 2009
The Times of India, April 20 2009
Portfolio, Norfolk, VA, August 2008
COLLECTIONS
The White House, Washington, D C
Yuko Nii Foundation, New York, NY
Pzifer Corporate Collection
International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction, Pagosa Springs, CO
Ben Uri Art Society, London, England
LINKS and SOCIAL MEDIA
http://www.ellenaltcommunity.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ellen.alt.9
https://www.instagram.com/ellen_alt_artist
https://www.saatchiart.com/ellenralt
http://nyartistscircle.com/index.php/portfolio-3/
www.newyorksocietyofwomenartists.com/ellen-alt
AWARDS
Art Buzz Publication, Honorable Mention in Mixed Media. 2009
Ish-Shalom Foundation Grant, Israel, 1993