{"id":257294,"date":"2025-10-28T20:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T20:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/257294\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T20:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T20:47:13","slug":"remembering-arlene-abend-syracuse-sculptor-pioneered-roles-for-women-in-welding-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/257294\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Arlene Abend: Syracuse sculptor pioneered roles for women in welding, art"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Arlene Abend<\/a>\u2019s daughter, Tema, had to take a home economics class in junior high school, Abend wasn\u2019t surprised. <\/p>\n

Her daughter wanted to take a shop class instead. Abend fought with the school to allow her daughter to be the first female student to take a shop class. She was victorious. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was extraordinarily frustrated with what men could do and women can\u2019t,\u201d said her daughter, Tema Abend. \u201cShe was a pioneer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the first or last time Abend would take a stand for feminism. As an artist who worked with metal and resin, who welded and even built her own tools when commercial tools wouldn\u2019t suffice, Abend paved the way for women in the arts. <\/p>\n

The renowned artist, sculptor and welder died this month. She was 94.<\/p>\n

Abend\u2019s sculptures ranged from the figurative to the abstract, from the small-scale to the large. She often worked with the human form. <\/p>\n

\u201cHer pieces are very theatrical,\u201d said her friend, Cheryl Chappell, owner of Edgewood Gallery. <\/p>\n

Born in 1931 in Brooklyn, Abend grew up on Brighton Beach. Her parents, Estelle and Louis Achiron, were conservative Jews. She had an older sister, Rita. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a tomboy,\u201d Tema Abend said. \u201cHer sister, Rita, was gorgeous and had all the attention. My mother saw herself as the ugly duckling. She was the black sheep of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArleneArlene Abendfamily archive<\/p>\n

As a girl, Abend loved going to the beach. <\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely loved the sand in my hands,\u201d Arlene Abend, said in the documentary, \u201cStretching Boundaries: The Life and Work of Arlene Abend.\u201d \u201cI loved piling it up making it have different shapes. I loved the texture the warmth\u2026I didn\u2019t even realize I was doing sculpture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abend, who stood at 5\u20322, had dark shoulder-length hair, and green-hazel eyes, attended Cooper Union in New York City. There, she met her husband, whom she later divorced. <\/p>\n

The couple relocated to Connecticut and had two children. Abend made portraits using pastels and pencils. She designed book covers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did portraits for an income but I found myself going further and further into that third dimension and the sense of space as opposed to imitating reality,\u201d Arlene Abend said. \u201cThe painting faded. The need for color faded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family moved to Syracuse in 1962, after her husband got a job at Smith Corona as a mechanical engineer helping to design typewriters. <\/p>\n

While taking art courses at Syracuse University, Abend found her love for the welding torch. She decided to take classes at the old Central Tech Vocational Center to learn how to weld and start experimenting with using a welding torch to make sculptures. <\/p>\n

\"ArleneArlene Abend used a welding torch to make sculptures. family archive<\/p>\n

Abend juggled her desire to make art with the responsibilities of a housewife. <\/p>\n

\u201cI did all the prerequisites of a good Jewish mother,\u201d she said. \u201cI did all the right things as a suburban housewife and found myself terribly uncomfortable. It just wasn\u2019t enough because that\u2019s not the only person I was\u2026 The time to cook took away from the time that I could rush off when they went to school and get some work done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArlene was a feminist before feminism was in vogue,\u201d Chappell said. <\/p>\n

Her husband was ambivalent about the work Abend did. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not support her efforts in her work but he was proud of her,\u201d Tema Abend said. <\/p>\n

At one point, Abend went on strike. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe refused to do household duties for a week,\u201d Tema Abend said. \u201cShe said \u2018I\u2019m not doing your laundry, your dishes, your dinners.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t going to be the maid, housekeeper and cook while we all sat around and watched, Tema Abend said.<\/p>\n

\"ArleneArlene Abendfamily archive<\/p>\n

Abend later enrolled at Syracuse University to finish her bachelor\u2019s degree. There, she first started working with resin. <\/p>\n

In 1973, she began leasing a studio at Delavan Center, where she would stay until it was destroyed by the Labor Day storm of 1998. <\/p>\n

When she wasn\u2019t making her own art, Abend put her welding ability to good use by repairing uniquely small and intricate metal antiques.<\/p>\n

Abend often worked on commission. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love commission work because it has me create in context,\u201d she said. \u201cIt has me pushing me in areas I probably wouldn\u2019t have gone it and it gives me skills I wouldn\u2019t have had.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have the finances to build to the scale that I would like so it\u2019s my clients who have given me the opportunity to work a little bigger than I am and have the funds to make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was named a Post-Standard Woman of Achievement in 1989.<\/p>\n

\"ArleneArlene Abendfamily archive<\/p>\n

She was commissioned to create a piece that sat on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center. It was destroyed on 9\/11. <\/p>\n

That day, Abend\u2019s son, who was a pilot, was in the air flying for one of the major airlines. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that I lost my sculpture seemed to turn into something quite minor compared to what value a life has,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

When the Carousel Center mall opened in 1990<\/a>, Abend was commissioned to create enormous horses to be displayed there. She made a unicorn, a zebra, a racing horse, and a sea horse. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I got from the Carousel Mall and a deadline was a tremendous awareness that you could do it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Abend had a process when making her large scale structures. She began with sketches, then made miniature models before creating the large pieces that were the end result. <\/p>\n

Along with John Roberson, Abend designed the Dewitt 9\/11 Memorial Monument. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I did this as a commission. Then when I got back to see it again, it was a whole symbol for so many people, that it became personal,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"ArleneArlene Abend shown among her sculptures on display at the Edgewood Gallery in Syracuse in 2004.Michelle Gabel<\/p>\n

In 2007, Abend became the artist-in-residence at a preschool. She made sculptures that involved birds and flying. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you work with small children with their enthusiasm and their joy… I think I got as much out of it as the kids did.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cShe just always had to fight in order to get a seat at the table, but she was always very determined,\u201d Chappell said. \u201cShe just kept on doing it, kept on insisting, kept on pushing, and she learned and she learned, and she did totally earn the respect of any man who would give her half a chance.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAll the hassles, the difficulties, the lack of time or support, financial or emotional, was something to push against that made my muscles, my mental need, and desire probably stronger,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat a woman is or is not was not just a difficulty, it may have been an impetus for me where I am now. The frustration of wanting to push the envelope has not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abend is survived by her children, Les and Tema Abend, and two grandchildren. <\/p>\n

A celebration of Abend\u2019s life<\/a> will be held at Congregation Beth Shalom on the evening of February 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"SculptorSculptor and welder Arlene Abend cuts a steel rod in her workshop in 2016.John Berry<\/p>\n

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