GLEAN is a juried program that gives five selected artists from the Portland area (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties) access to the Metro Central transfer station (“the dump”) to glean materials to use to create art. Residents and businesses in the Portland area generate more than 2 million tons of waste every year.  While we can be proud that we recycle and compost a significant amount, there is an opportunity to do better. GLEAN taps into the creativity of artists to inspire people to think about their consumption habits, the waste they generate, and the resources they throw away. 

We are reserving one residency position for a student currently enrolled in an art program at a local college or university. Student applications will be considered separately from other artist applications. GLEAN seeks to hear from artists with a broad range of experiences and cultural perspectives from the diverse communities in the Portland area. We encourage artists working in a variety of media to apply. GLEAN is a partnership between Recology, an employee-owned integrated resource recovery and recycling company; Metro, the regional government that manages the Portland area’s garbage and recycling system; and crackedpots, an environmental arts non-profit.

Program Elements: Five artists will have the opportunity to glean materials from Metro Central transfer station for the five months of the program duration. Each artist will be required to create a minimum of eight pieces available for sale at the exhibition Ninety-five percent of each piece must be created from materials gleaned from the transfer station. Each artist will be paid a $2,000 stipend upon the successful completion of the program. Each artist will receive 80% commission from the sale of their art at the exhibition. Applicants must be residents of Multnomah, Washington, or Clackamas county Recology will retain one piece from each artist for its permanent collection; Metro will retain one piece from each artist to be publicly displayed for 2-years. Artists are required to sign an artist agreement and attend a safety training before gleaning. Artists must be available for monthly meetings.

If submitting a video file, please have the video be no longer than one minute.  

APPLICATION CLOSES AT 10:59 PM PACIFIC TIME ON MARCH 1, 2020
 

2020 Important Program Dates:

March 1                   Deadline for artist applications 
APPLICATION CLOSES AT 10:59 PM PACIFIC TIME

April 6                       Jury Committee selects eight artists to be interviewed

April 13                     Finalist Interviews with panel

April 20                     Safety Training and Orientation

                                ***Materials are available in other languages upon request.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria