During her career, Arvelo worked for the Finnish National Theatre and appeared in such films as Radio tekee murron (1951), Kilroy sen teki (1957), Nothing but Love (1984) and Burning Angel (1984). She also worked as a director at the Helsinki Folk Theater-Workers' Theater and the Intimate Theater, co-founded the Praesens dance group in 1961 with Raija Riikkala and led it. In 1968, Arvelo published the pamphlet The Closed Bath of Our Theater (Folk Culture 1968). Her directorial work at the National Theater included modern European drama and Finnish versions of American musicals. In addition, she translated French plays into Finnish. In 1961, she became only the fourth Finnish female film director when she directed a film Kultainen vasikka, based on a play by Maria Jotuni. The film received the state film award and a Jussi Award for actor Helge Herala. This remains her only directorial effort.
