Ella Noe
Named after my maternal grandmother, I am a Latinx Eastern European Jewish Visual Artist based in the Mission in San Francisco.
I was born to Romanian parents in Israel and raised all over South America. After moving from country to country my whole life, in 2003 I landed in San Francisco and made it my home.
I have always connected to the world through my art. At first dance, storytelling, acting and poetry and later photography. Here in San Francisco, my images multiplied becoming grids, morphed into mixed media and came out the other side as paintings and drawings.
In 2018, my visual artwork took yet another turn as it enmeshed with dance and expanded through poetry and tales. I started collaborating with artists from other media; dancers, musicians, story tellers, and through dialogue explored all that connects us in our search.
In March 2020 when the world went into lockdown and San Francisco boarded up its stores and restaurants, I started painting/collaging murals onto ply-wood… One day owls showed up in my murals and I decided to follow. The joy I saw in people’s faces when they experienced the Mural Owls led me to create smaller, one of a kind Owl Collages for people to have in their homes… I keep exploring different ways to create Owls and spread more smiles around the world.
My diverse upbringing has given me the opportunity to work with youth from a wide variety of backgrounds and economic levels ranging from Bedouin children in Israel to adolescent orphans in Romania. Here in the Bay Area I have worked as a photography and art teacher for organizations such as MOCHA (museum of children's art), MCCLA (mission cultural center for Latinx Arts in San Francisco) Mission Graduates and the Red Poppy Art House (where I have also been an artist resident). I participated in the San Francisco Studio School of Painting, Drawing, Photography and Mixed Media as a teacher assistant and studio and gallery manager for over 10 years, and lately I have been collaborating with artists of multiple disciplines and cultural backgrounds.
EDUCATION
2006 - 2017 Painting, Drawing, Photography and Mixed Media, San Francisco Studio School. San Francisco, CA, USA
2003 - 2005 MFA. Fine Art Photography, Academy of Art University. San Francisco, CA, USA
1999 - 2000 Postgraduate Diploma in Children’s Literature, Reading University. Reading, UK
1993 – 1997 B.A Advertising Executive in Creative Arts, Universidad del Pacifico. Santiago, Chile. Obtained an Honor Diploma
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Poetic Trees and Owls. Cafe de Olla. Installation. San Francisco
2023 Memory Collages. ATA Window. Installation. San Francisco
2021 Gardens. Compton’s. Paintings. San Francisco
2019 In Conversation with Dance. Red Poppy Art House. Solo Exhibition and Painting performance. San Francisco
2019 Tempo. Studio Valencia. Drawings and Paintings. San Francisco
2006 Two-Person exhibition, Looking In Looking Out. Academy of Art Gallery. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2005 Espacios Transitorios. La Casa del Libro. Poetry reading and photography. San Francisco
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 The DeYoung Open. DeYoung Museum. Painting. San Francisco
2023 Sky. The Drawing Room. Mixed Media Installation. San Francisco
2022 Adaptations: Land. The Drawing Room. Mixed Media Installation. San Francisco
2022 Land. The Drawing Room. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2022 Women Rising. 780 Valencia. Painting. San Francisco
2022 Art Show. Sour Cherry Comics. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2021 Ella Noe and Malik Seneferu. Counterpulse. Paintings. San Francisco
2021 Local Inspirations. O’Hanlon Center. Painting. Mill Valley
2021 Verdant. San Francisco Women Artists. Painting. San Francisco
2021 The Art of Music and Dance. Sacramento Fine Art Center. Drawing. Sacramento
2020 The DeYoung Open. DeYoung Museum. Drawing. San Francisco
2020 Passages. The Fontecchio International Airport. Images and text from “Contemplative Conversations” performance. Fontecchio, Italy
2020 Exhibition. Ritual. Drawings. San Francisco
2019 Group Show. Alleycat Bookstore Gallery. Paintings. San Francisco
2017 Art Show. Colorspot Studio/Gallery. Drawings. El Cerrito
2017 Solo Mujeres. Mission Cultural Center. Painting. San Francisco
2012 Visual Language. San Francisco Studio School Gallery. Drawing. San Francisco
2009 Vision. San Francisco Studio School Gallery. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2005 Headlands. Academy of Art Gallery. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2005 Grids. Red Poppy Art House. Photography. San Francisco
2005 Collage of Life: Many Women’s Voices. Atrium Gallery. Photography. San Francisco
2005 Spring Show. Academy of Art University. Photography. Awarded first prize for Photography Fine Art Portfolio. San Francisco
EVENTS PARTICIPATING as VISUAL ARTIST
2020 Contemplative Conversation. ATA Window. Accumulative performances of Painting and Dance. San Francisco
2019/20 In Conversation with Dance Two performances. Red Poppy art House. Live Improvisation of music, dance and painting. San Francisco
2019 Situation. Two performances. Studio Valencia. Live Improvisation of music, dance and painting. San Francisco
2016 Mission Stoop Fest. Large format live Drawing to poetry and music. San Francisco
2015 Illusion. Mission Cultural Center of Latino Art. Large Scale Live Drawing. San Francisco
2013 MAPP. (Mission Art Performance Project). Red Poppy Art House. Large Scale Live Drawing. San Francisco
2006 Illusion. De Young Museum. Live creation Mixed Media. San Francisco
2006 Illusion. Mission Cultural Center of Latino Art. Live creation Mixed Media. San Francisco
2006 MAPP. (Mission Art Performance Project). Red Poppy Art House. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2005 MAPP. El Jardin. Mixed Media. San Francisco
2005 MAPP. The Red Garage. Photographic Grids. San Francisco
COMMISIONS
2020 Public mural commissioned by Colleen Mauer Designs, Three Tree Vignette without Owls, 3 panel mural, mixed media on wood. San Francisco
2020 Public mural commission by The Box Shop, Two Tree Vignette with Owls and Other, 2 panel mural, mixed media on metal containers. San Francisco
2020 Private mural commission, Garden, 8 panel mural, mixed media on wood. Oakland
2020 Public mural commissioned by Project Artivism, Four Tree Vignettes and a Door with Owls and little green Paraquets, 4 panel mural, mixed media on wood. San Francisco
RESIDENCIES
2020 ATA (Artist Television Access). San Francisco
2019/20 Studio Valencia. San Francisco
2006 Red Poppy Art House. San Francisco
PUBLICATIONS as AUTHOR
1996 Novel “Donde Estoy que no me Veo” (Where am I that I can’t see myself)
1996 Various articles in the cultural magazine “El Canelo”, nos 74-76