Cristina Niculescu Named A 2020 GLEAN Artist!!

Congratulations to Cristina Niculescu (AC+D '20), selected as a GLEAN Artist-in-Residence this year! The GLEAN Residency provides artists access to the Portland city dump to collect materials for artmaking and promotes awareness about the life cycle of the everyday things we use. A highly competitive residency, five artists are selected each year from the Portland area to participate in this unique residency opportunity!

"The GLEAN Program invites artists to push the boundaries of material exploration. With a stipend to support their practice and seemingly endless materials to work with, artists are challenged to expand their existing studio practice by making work from the materials gleaned from the Metro Central Transfer Station."

The GLEAN Residency is a partnership between Metro, Recology, and Cracked Pots.

Cristina Niculescu

Cristina Niculescu is a visual artist, immigrant, veteran, divorcée, writer, educator, and marvel-maker. Born in 1981 in Romania, she immigrated to the US at the age of ten. Her multi-culturally informed work seeks points of social tension and connection through artful objects, photography, video and interactive installations. She designs props and participatory experiences for the tragicomedy of life, favoring humor, tenderness and multiplicity.

Niculescu holds undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Physiology from the University of Arizona, an MA in Spanish from Portland State University and an MFA in Applied Craft + Design from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She was elected leader of her class’ Pionieri Communist Organization at the age of eight, won the 6th grade school Spelling Bee in Texas, received a full-tuition college scholarship, and was a Distinguished Graduate of Air Force Intelligence Officer school in 2003. Cristina has thrived and struggled in Portland, OR since 2009.