Eli Arenas was born in Cd. Juarez, Mexico, a jewelry and installation artist currently living in Charlotte, NC.
Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. Her work is in the collection of the Center for Contemporary Art and Culture at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, OR., has participated in selected exhibitions such as ACC Baltimore and Atlanta, SOFA- Thirteen Annual International Expositions of Sculpture and Functional Art, Touching Warms the Art, Discomfort and La Frontera.
Arenas was appointed in 2010 to serve as Board member to the Society of North American Goldsmiths. She received in 2011 and 2018 a three-month residency at the McColl Center for Arts and Innovation in Charlotte, NC. She was nominated by the North Carolina Arts Council to participate in a Creative Capital Professional workshop. Her work has been featured in several publications such as, The Compendium Finale of Contemporary Jewellers 2008, 500 Pendants and Lockets, 500 Earrings, 500 Necklaces, 1000 Rings and 500 Paper Objects. In 2018, Arenas was awarded the NC Regional Artist Grant as well as the CERF Get ready grant.
In 2002 she received her Bachelor of fine arts from the University of Texas at El Paso and in 2006 she graduated from New Mexico State University with a MFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing.
