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hroughout our modern history, it is through art, photography, music, poetry, theatre and dance that we are able to process and understand our deepest traumas and global tragedies, as well as our highest achievements and triumphs. Artists have not only run to the frontlines to document natural disasters and wars, but artists are often the first to stand up to wrong with acts of protest.

The Breathing Project was a global forward-looking, multidisciplinary artistic engagement that paired artists, musicians, and poets with healthcare and frontline workers, students, and the elderly who were impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Artworks honored stories, tragic or inspiring, to foster a global culture of understanding and shared experiences.

I recorded Ellen in her studio as she laid down the foundation for her gold-leaf piece for The Breathing Project, which is based on a story provided by a Cardiologist. She wad using a glue-drip technique she had never tried before. I asked her to take a moment to go within and move the gold leaf as she would be doing in this piece.

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he moments we shared that preceded and followed the making of this video are truly beyond my ability to describe or even simply know what to do with. But within it is a safe space I can go to to feel my sorrow in losing a friend, as well as feel my gratitude in having met someone who touched me so deeply and with such passion, and also humor. Her work, and the collective work of her projects, continue to effect change in a world that needs many more essential workers like Ellen Frank.

More about Ellen’s legacy in Kosovo
www.rit.edu/kosovo/ellen-frank-center-art-social-justice