SHORT BIO

Lena Wolff an artist, craftswoman, and activist for democracy who has been based in the San Francisco Bay Area since the early 1990's. Her work extends out of American folk-art traditions while at the same time being rooted in minimalism, geometric abstraction, Op art, social practice, feminist and political art. Lena's broad interconnected artistic output includes drawing, collage, sculpture, text-based works, frequent collaboration, and public projects. In 2017, she formed Art for Democracy, beginning with an anti-hate poster in the Bay Area, followed by the widespread national public art campaign to boost voter participation. Over the last two decades, her work has been presented in galleries and museums across the country and collected by ONE National Lesbian and Gay Archives, Berkeley Art Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Arts Commission, Alameda County Arts Commission, Cleveland Clinic, University of Iowa Museum, and the Zuckerman Museum of Art, among others. She lives with her wife, artist, teacher, and illustrator, Miriam Klein Stahl and their daughter in Berkeley, California. November 12th was named Miriam Klein Stahl and Lena Wolff Day by Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin in 2019 for their work that merges art and civic engagement.

Her work can be found at Sarah Shepard Gallery in Larkspur and Haines Gallery in San Francisco.

EXTENDED BIO

Lena Wolff is an interdisciplinary visual artist, craftswoman and activist for democracy who has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area since the early 1990’s. Originally born in Larkspur, California, she grew up living semi-communally with her family at the Zen Center of Los Angeles in the 1970’s and then moved to Paris and outside of Amsterdam as a young person before returning to the U.S. Lena’s work extends out of American folk art and quiltmaking traditions, while at the same time being connected to minimalism, geometric abstraction, Op art, social practice, feminist and political art. Her broad interconnected artistic output includes drawing, collage, sculpture, text-based works, music and public projects.

In 2017, she formed Art for Democracy, beginning with an anti-hate poster in the Bay Area, followed by a widespread national public art campaign to boost voter participation that launches ahead of critical elections in the US every two years in the format of billboards, free posters, downloadable files, and digital images. Alongside these projects, she actively fundraises for BIPOC-led grassroots voting organizations in swing states, having raised over $350,000 for these groups to date.

Lena is also the founder of the vocal ensemble FUTURE CHORUS that formed during a residency at the de Young Museum in San Francisco 2017 with musician and artist Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs. Led by choral director Claire Plumb, the chorus performed in public spaces throughout the Bay Area from 2017 to 2019. Made up of over 25 musicians, friends and artists, FUTURE CHORUS sang a repertoire of original arrangements and cover songs that call upon love, resilience, imagination, inclusivity and determination to fight for a better future.

Over the last two decades, Lena’s work has been presented in galleries and museums including the de Young Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Headlands Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, Haines Gallery, Johansson Projects, CULT Exhibitions and Sarah Shepard Gallery, among other spaces. In addition to private collections, her work is in the public collections of the ONE National Lesbian and Gay Archives, the Berkeley Art Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Oakland Museum of California, San Francisco Arts Commission, the San Francisco History Collection at San Francisco Public Library, Alameda County Arts Commission, Stanford University, University of Iowa Museum, and the Zuckerman Museum of Art, among other collections.

She lives with her wife, artist, teacher and illustrator, Miriam Klein Stahl and their daughter in Berkeley, California. November 12th was named Miriam Klein Stahl and Lena Wolff Day by Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin in 2019 for their work that merges art and civic engagement.

Wolff’s work can be found at Sarah Shepard Gallery in Larkspur and Haines Gallery in San Francisco.