Alexandru Salceanu is a Romanian-American interdisciplinary artist whose work navigates the intersections of memory, identity, and cultural belonging. Born in Communist Romania and emigrating to the United States in 1992, his practice reflects the continual process of reconciling his cultural heritage with his assimilation into American life. This formative experience shapes his artistic inquiry, driving him to explore layered historical and aesthetic references and the shifting complexities of belonging. Salceanu’s interdisciplinary practice spans photography, video, projection mapping, painting, mixed media, and social practice.
Within his socially engaged projects, he collaborates with immigrant communities to create works centered on autobiographical storytelling. These collaborations emphasize co-creation in both the visual and narrative components, transforming participants from subjects into active collaborators. Through this process, memory becomes an act of affirmation—both personal and collective—revealing the unifying power of individual stories.
Salceanu’s art harnesses its transformative potential to humanize social and cultural issues, challenge inherited perspectives, and invite audiences into an empathetic encounter with history, identity, and shared experience.
Alexandru Salceanu’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows at the de Young Museum (San Francisco, CA); Root Division (San Francisco, CA); Kala Art Institute (Berkeley, CA); Mills College Art Museum (Oakland, CA); SOMArts Cultural Center (San Francisco, CA); University of San Francisco (San Francisco, CA); Art Works Downtown (San Rafael, CA); Kaleid Gallery (San Jose, CA); Brea Art Gallery (Brea, CA); University of San Diego (San Diego, CA); and Art Academy of San Diego (San Diego, CA). Internationally, his work has been presented at Millepiani (Rome, Italy); CICA Museum (Gimpo, South Korea); The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion (Cork, Ireland); and Galleri Heike Arndt (Berlin, Germany and Kettinge, Denmark), among others.
He has received numerous awards, including the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Artist Grant, CCI Quick Grant, The Puffin Foundation Grant, and the Cadogan Scholarship.
Salceanu earned his B.A. from the University of San Diego and his MFA from Mills College in Oakland, California.
His work is part of the permanent collection of The Cultural Conservancy.
CV
EDUCATION
MILLS COLLEGE | OAKLAND, CA August 2019 - May 2021
M.F.A. Cadogan Scholarship recipient
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO | SAN DIEGO, CA August 2000 - May 2004
B.A. Visual Arts
AWARDS
2025 Puffin Foundation Grant. The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. Teaneck, NJ
2024 San Francisco Artist Grant. San Francisco Arts Commission. San Francisco, CA
2022 Center for Cultural Innovation Quick Grant. Center for Cultural Innovation. San Francisco, CA
2020 Cadogan Scholarship. San Francisco Foundation. San Francisco, CA
RESIDENCIES
2026 Artist-in-residence. Winslow House Project. Vallejo, CA (forthcoming)
2026 Artist-in-residence. Space Program, San Francisco, CA (forthcoming)
2025 Artist-in-residence. Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2025 Sample-Studios Residency. Churchfield, Cork, Ireland
2023 Casa de Gratie Gavril Cacina Artist Residency. Artfest. Vatra Dornei, Romania
2022 The Box Shop Artist Residency. The Box Shop. San Francisco, CA
2021 Parent Artist Residency Award. Kala Art Institute. Berkeley, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2027 Witness Collaborative. Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA (forthcoming)
2026 Witness Collaborative. Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center Gallery, San Jose, CA (forthcoming)
2026 Witness Collaborative. Ruth’s Table, San Francisco, CA (forthcoming)
2026 AlieNation. Dominican University, San Rafael, CA (forthcoming)
2025 Witness Collaborative. University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2024 AlieNation. Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA
2004 Reflections. University of San Diego, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Where Are You From? ARTogether, Oakland, CA (forthcoming)
2026 Witness Collaborative. Mission High School, San Francisco, CA
2026 Sanctuary. The Drawing Room, San Francisco, CA
2025 Where Are You From? Romanian Cultural Institute, New York, NY
2025 Murmurations. Sentro Filipino, San Francisco, CA
2025 Keep You Close. Gavilan College, Gilroy, CA
2025 About Face: Navigating the Dualities of Disruption. SEED Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2025 Pyramid Scheme 2.0. Bass and Reiner, San Francisco, CA
2025 Nature Morte. Bucknell University, New York, NY
2025 Call and Response. Carmen Castellano Fine Arts Center Gallery, San Jose, CA
2024 In Between. International Art Museum of America, San Francisco, CA
2024 Explore Your Roots. SSF Cultural Arts Commission Gallery, South San Francisco, CA
2024 Scout. Galleri Heike Arndt, Kettinge, Denmark
2024 Experimental Film. Gisela, Berlin, Germany
2024 EarthSeed, Undergrowth, and Afterlife. SEED Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 Fresh Legs. Galleri Heike Arndt, Berlin, Germany
2024 Integrations Pt. 3. China Brotsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 Integrations Pt. 2. Four Chicken Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 Contemporary Perspectives from San Francisco. The Lord Mayor's Pavilion, Cork, Ireland
2024 Season 9. Video Sound Archive, Online Exhibition
2023 The de Young Open. de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
2023 ME in a(ME)rica. Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2023 Voices 2023. CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
2023 Pyramid Scheme. Bass and Reiner, San Francisco, CA
2023 Integrations pt.1. Dutch Boy Paint Warehouse Lofts, Oakland, CA
2023 Cornucopia. Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA
2023 Conceptual Photography. ArtDoc Photography Magazine, Online Exhibition
2023 Migrations and Shifting Borders, Millepiani, Rome, Italy
2022 Image and Identity. ArtDoc Photography Magazine, Online Exhibition
2022 Artist Annual Exhibition. Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2021 Crystal Ball: 2021 Mills College MFA Exhibition. Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
2020 The Annual Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition. SOMArts Cultural Center, San
Francisco, CA
2011 7th Annual Creative Justice Art Show. University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
2009 Home Grown. Kaleid Gallery, San Jose, CA
2007 La Dolce Vita Fundraiser. Brea Gallery, Brea, CA
FILM SCREENINGS
2025 Experimental Film. Gisela, Berlin, Germany
2024 Experimental Film. Gisela, Berlin, Germany
2024 Creativity of Slowness. Gisela, Berlin, Germany
2024 More is More. The 4 Star Theater, San Francisco
PUBLICATIONS
2025 Meet Alexandru Salceanu, Stories and Insights, Canvas Rebel
2025 Migration, Identity, Belonging, International Exhibits, Revista Arta
2024 Fresh Legs, Artist Catalog, Galleri Heike Arndt DK, Berlin, Germany
2023 Voices 2023, Artist Catalog, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
2022 Loss of a Mother, ARTDOC Photography Magazine
2020 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Award, in Issue magazine, SOMArts Cultural Center
2020 The Annual Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards 2020, Artist Catalog, San Francisco
2020 SOMArts Cultural Center, Artist Feature, Oct.1, 2020
COMMUNITY WORK
2021 - present Founder, Witness Collaborative, San Francisco, CA
2026 - present ARTogether Board Member, Oakland, CA
2022 - present Founder, Romanian Art Collective SF (RACSF), San Francisco, CA
CURATORIAL AND EXHIBITION MANAGEMENT
2026 Where Are You From? ARTogether, Oakland, CA (forthcoming, RACSF lead artist)
2025 Where Are You From? Romanian Cultural Institute, New York, NY (RACSF lead artist)
2025 Indigenous Intersectionality. The Cultural Conservancy, San Francisco, CA
2025 Call and Response. Centennial Gallery, San Jose, CA (RACSF lead artist)
2024 Earth Story Ancestors. The Cultural Conservancy, San Francisco, CA
2024 In Between. International Art Museum of America, San Francisco, CA (RACSF lead artist)
2024 Kay Key YA. The Cultural Conservancy, San Francisco, CA
2024 Integrations pt.3. China Brotsky Gallery, San Francisco, CA (RACSF lead artist)
2024 Seeds of Hope. The Cultural Conservancy, San Francisco, CA (RACSF lead artist)
2024 Integrations pt.2. Four Chicken Gallery, San Francisco, CA (RACSF lead artist)
2023 Integrations pt.1. Dutch Boy Paint Warehouse Lofts, Oakland, CA (RACSF lead artist)
2023 The Children’s Series. The Cultural Conservancy, San Francisco, CA
2019 IllumiNative. Slidespace 123. Oakland, CA (curatorial course)
2019 2019 Senior Preview Exhibition. Slidespace 123. Oakland, CA (curatorial course)
2019 The Heart of Heartsong. Slidespace 123. Oakland, CA (curatorial course)
2008 The Art of Thought. Brea Gallery. Brea, CA co-curated with Kim Abeles
2008 B Movie Madness. Brea Gallery. Brea, CA
2008 The Media. Brea Gallery. Brea, CA
2008 Made in California. Brea Gallery. Brea, CA
2007 6 Degrees of Separation. Brea Gallery. Brea, CA
2007 Made in California. Brea Gallery. Brea, CA