CONTEMPORARY
Abstract Realist Painter
CONTEMPORARY
b. 1972, New York
Lives and works in New Jersey
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Paier College of Art
Hamden Connecticut
Dean’s Honor List
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 “Origin” Group Show | ArtsWorcester, Worcester MA
2025 “Impermanence” Group Show | Art Fluent, Boston MA
2025 “Imaginary Worlds: Invented Spaces and Places” | Kay Daugherty Gallery, Solomons GA
2025 “Spring Juried Exhibition” Group Show | Lehigh Art Alliance, Bethlehem PA
2025 “Courageously Created Fine Art Show” Group Show | Alatheia, Seattle WA
2021 “ArtPrize 2021” Group Show | ArtPrize, Grand Rapids MI
2018 “The Hunterdon Art Tour” Group Show | Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton NJ
2017 “The New Black—Volunteerism” Solo Exhibition | Alvin H. Butz Gallery at ArtsQuest, Bethlehem PA
2014 “Art of the Flower” Group Show | Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia PA
2014 “To Plaid or Not to Plaid” Group Show | The Gallery at St. John’s, Easton PA
2014 “Member’s Art Exhibition” Group Show | Artsbridge Group, Lambertville NJ
2007 “The Open Door” Solo Exhibition | Paula at Rigoletto, Weehawken NJ
SELECTED PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2021 Channel 8 TV, Grand Rapids MI | Grace and the Atlas Moth by Nina Cruz, Interview
2017 The Easton Irregular | Giving Back is a Work of Art, Interview, Front Cover
2017 NJ.com | Nina Cruz’s Art Exhibition on Volunteerism
2017 Hunterdon County Democrat | Volunteer Stories Through Art and Narrative
2017 NPR Radio | Exhibition Artist D Nina Cruz on LV Arts Salon, Interview
2012 The Morning Call | 15th Annual Show
2012 ArtBuzz | Annual Art Showcase Hardcover Book
AWARDS
2014 The Gallery at St. John’s, Honorable 2nd Place
2012 ArtBuzz Annual Art Showcase, 2nd Place
1994 Paier College of Art, Excellence in Tradition Award
1992 Meriden Hispanic Foundation, Scholarship Award
1990 United States Congress, Congressional Award
1990 Meriden Hispanic Foundation, Scholarship Award
1990 NAACP, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Scholarship Award
MEMBERSHIPS
Lehigh Arts Alliance | Lehigh Valley PA
ArtsWorcester | Worcester MA
COLLECTIONS
Nina Cruz is collected by national and international private collections.
Lives and works in New Jersey
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Paier College of Art
Hamden Connecticut
Dean’s Honor List
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 “Origin” Group Show | ArtsWorcester, Worcester MA
2025 “Impermanence” Group Show | Art Fluent, Boston MA
2025 “Imaginary Worlds: Invented Spaces and Places” | Kay Daugherty Gallery, Solomons GA
2025 “Spring Juried Exhibition” Group Show | Lehigh Art Alliance, Bethlehem PA
2025 “Courageously Created Fine Art Show” Group Show | Alatheia, Seattle WA
2021 “ArtPrize 2021” Group Show | ArtPrize, Grand Rapids MI
2018 “The Hunterdon Art Tour” Group Show | Hunterdon Art Museum, Clinton NJ
2017 “The New Black—Volunteerism” Solo Exhibition | Alvin H. Butz Gallery at ArtsQuest, Bethlehem PA
2014 “Art of the Flower” Group Show | Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia PA
2014 “To Plaid or Not to Plaid” Group Show | The Gallery at St. John’s, Easton PA
2014 “Member’s Art Exhibition” Group Show | Artsbridge Group, Lambertville NJ
2007 “The Open Door” Solo Exhibition | Paula at Rigoletto, Weehawken NJ
SELECTED PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2021 Channel 8 TV, Grand Rapids MI | Grace and the Atlas Moth by Nina Cruz, Interview
2017 The Easton Irregular | Giving Back is a Work of Art, Interview, Front Cover
2017 NJ.com | Nina Cruz’s Art Exhibition on Volunteerism
2017 Hunterdon County Democrat | Volunteer Stories Through Art and Narrative
2017 NPR Radio | Exhibition Artist D Nina Cruz on LV Arts Salon, Interview
2012 The Morning Call | 15th Annual Show
2012 ArtBuzz | Annual Art Showcase Hardcover Book
AWARDS
2014 The Gallery at St. John’s, Honorable 2nd Place
2012 ArtBuzz Annual Art Showcase, 2nd Place
1994 Paier College of Art, Excellence in Tradition Award
1992 Meriden Hispanic Foundation, Scholarship Award
1990 United States Congress, Congressional Award
1990 Meriden Hispanic Foundation, Scholarship Award
1990 NAACP, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Scholarship Award
MEMBERSHIPS
Lehigh Arts Alliance | Lehigh Valley PA
ArtsWorcester | Worcester MA
COLLECTIONS
Nina Cruz is collected by national and international private collections.
STATEMENT
I am an American artist best recognized for my abstract-realism stain paintings on wood. My paintings often feature vibrant childhood themes. I frequently hand-carve the surface, enriching the narrative and art experience. Through the numerous layers of translucent stain, the wood’s natural grain is visible.
Craftsmanship and the inventive magic of childhood have an impact on me. In a wooden setting, my paintings go into imaginary and dreamlike worlds. My work aims to leave an impact, engaging viewers in a dialogue of connecting to their innate need to dream and experience playful wonder in a world of relentless pace and depletion of the soul.
I am an American artist best recognized for my abstract-realism stain paintings on wood. My paintings often feature vibrant childhood themes. I frequently hand-carve the surface, enriching the narrative and art experience. Through the numerous layers of translucent stain, the wood’s natural grain is visible.
Craftsmanship and the inventive magic of childhood have an impact on me. In a wooden setting, my paintings go into imaginary and dreamlike worlds. My work aims to leave an impact, engaging viewers in a dialogue of connecting to their innate need to dream and experience playful wonder in a world of relentless pace and depletion of the soul.
BIOGRAPHY
Nina Cruz is a contemporary abstract realist painter based in New Jersey, close to New York and Pennsylvania. Having grown up in and out of the U.S., diverse cultures shaped her early interest in different mediums. She began drawing in a realist style at age eight and using stain in traditional ways at age ten. After winning awards as a teenager for watercolor portraits and drawings, she was drawn to oils, captivated by the medium’s ability to create dramatic texture and depth through its impasto qualities.
As a young adult, Cruz used art as a powerful tool to foster community engagement, an effort that earned her the prestigious Congressional Award. She put herself through college as a first-generation college graduate and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 2003/04, she accomplished a lifelong dream by illustrating not just one, but two children’s books—both bilingual. As a published illustrator, she brought her creative vision to life in a way that would inspire young readers across cultures.
While working on a creative project, Cruz explored the use of stain as a medium for fine art. Discovering no resources that taught stain-painting, she initiated her own exploration to develop necessary techniques. This included testing different types of stains. For a decade, she dedicated herself to refining innovative methods, achieving excellent results in a body of work that showcases realism and abstraction on diverse wood species. In two and three dimensional works.
Cruz’s use of locally sourced wood for substrates reflects her commitment to sustainability. Influenced by her grandfather’s woodworking, who turned small works and made wooden instruments, she developed a unique appreciation for natural woods. In 2017, she conceived, pitched, curated, and produced a solo exhibition about community and volunteerism that garnered local front-page coverage and led to an NPR interview.
Cruz’s childhood fascination with imagination, combined with Japanese principles of imperfect beauty and profound wonder, shapes the themes in her work. Her stain paintings, featuring childhood-inspired themes and hand-carved textures, explore dreamlike worlds that evoke nostalgia, wonder, and possibility.
Nina Cruz is a contemporary abstract realist painter based in New Jersey, close to New York and Pennsylvania. Having grown up in and out of the U.S., diverse cultures shaped her early interest in different mediums. She began drawing in a realist style at age eight and using stain in traditional ways at age ten. After winning awards as a teenager for watercolor portraits and drawings, she was drawn to oils, captivated by the medium’s ability to create dramatic texture and depth through its impasto qualities.
As a young adult, Cruz used art as a powerful tool to foster community engagement, an effort that earned her the prestigious Congressional Award. She put herself through college as a first-generation college graduate and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 2003/04, she accomplished a lifelong dream by illustrating not just one, but two children’s books—both bilingual. As a published illustrator, she brought her creative vision to life in a way that would inspire young readers across cultures.
While working on a creative project, Cruz explored the use of stain as a medium for fine art. Discovering no resources that taught stain-painting, she initiated her own exploration to develop necessary techniques. This included testing different types of stains. For a decade, she dedicated herself to refining innovative methods, achieving excellent results in a body of work that showcases realism and abstraction on diverse wood species. In two and three dimensional works.
Cruz’s use of locally sourced wood for substrates reflects her commitment to sustainability. Influenced by her grandfather’s woodworking, who turned small works and made wooden instruments, she developed a unique appreciation for natural woods. In 2017, she conceived, pitched, curated, and produced a solo exhibition about community and volunteerism that garnered local front-page coverage and led to an NPR interview.
Cruz’s childhood fascination with imagination, combined with Japanese principles of imperfect beauty and profound wonder, shapes the themes in her work. Her stain paintings, featuring childhood-inspired themes and hand-carved textures, explore dreamlike worlds that evoke nostalgia, wonder, and possibility.