Arlene Rush is a conceptual multidisciplinary artist who works challenges the theories used to classify art. Rush’s art exists among ideas of a feminist ideology, political engagement, and a strong sense of identity, i.e., the artist’s own voice and how it critically relates to the world around her. Inquiries have pervaded her life on the issues of gender, identity, and equality. 

She has exhibited extensively in museums, universities, and galleries worldwide. Rush was the recipient of a residency to Barcelona, Spain, from the Center for Emerging Visual Artists in 1988, and of the Pat Hearn & Colin De Land Foundation Grant in 2011. In 2020, she received the Carole Eisner Award For Sculpture and was also published on Wikipedia, acknowledging historically her artistic career. As of 2022 she is on The Creative Center's Advisory Council.

Her work is in numerous collections, among some are: 9/11 Memorial & Museum Artist Registry; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, Wales, UK; Museu Brasileiro de Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Bldg., Washington, D.C.; Sara M. Vance Waddell, Cincinnati, OH; Joe Baio’s Collection, New York, NY; Golden Collection, Berlin, NY and The Robert H. Chaney Collection, Houston, TX and ARCO Chemical, Newton Square, PA.

Rush has been reviewed in numerous publications including: The New York Times, Wall Street International, Eidenhovens Dagblad, Art Fuse, D/Railed Contemporary Art Magazine, Hyperallergic, Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Artdependence Magazine, ANTE Magazine, Varsari21, Time Out New York, Artsy Editorial, Rheinische Post, Aktuell, The New Yorker, Stadtmagazin, International Gallerie, and Lilith Magazine.