Meet Threads’ participant Nicole Petrescu

By Kara Dicker

An artist paints an artist: Carol Carter's portrait of Nicole Petrescu, who emigrated from Romania.

Nicole Petrescu spent the first part of her life in Romania, whose rich culture and people she loved. It was the country’s dictatorial regime she could not accept. “I proudly participated in the anti-communist revolution of 1989,” says Petrescu. It was a movement that liberated Romania from the autocratic, socialist regime of the previous 45 years.

In 1990 Petrescu exited Lambert International Airport and stepped into a mid-September evening in St Louis. “The very hot, heavy, humid air hit me like a slap in the face,” she says. “But here I am 34 years later being part of the St. Louis family as an artist, educator, and a first-generation immigrant.”

Petrescu studied painting at Washington University and went on to teach at area colleges. Making art, she says, is a sanctuary from the inequities happening in the world. At the same time, she explains that it is her role as an artist to be engaged with the people, communities, and the world around her. “It is the artist’s role to understand, filter, and project what is meaningful in order to facilitate change,” says Petrescu.

If there is one lesson that fighting an oppressive regime for thirty years has taught her, it is to never give up. That is the one lesson Petrescu says she insists on passing along to her students.

In 2014 Petrescu curated Carol Carter’s Asian Influences exhibition at William Woods University. The two knew each other previously from their studies at Washington University. “I am honored to call Carol a dear friend, “she says.

Petrescu has not yet seen her portrait. She is waiting for the March 8 opening of Threads. “I can’t wait to see the upcoming show and discover the side of me captured by Carol’s artistic sensibility,” says Petrescu.