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 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.

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. 

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.  At this time, we are not seeking photography or AV projects.

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 weekday meetings.

2018 Important Program Dates

Jan 31                     Deadline for artist applications

Feb 9                       Jury Committee selects eight artists to be interviewed

Feb 16                     Interview panel selects finalists

Feb 23                     Safety training and Orientation

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

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria