A Year to Remember

As we close one year and move toward the next, we do so with optimism and hope. A belief that we are strong, and we are resilient. 

That we will emerge from this shared history, a time of personal and professional challenges and loss, with a better understanding of what it is to be a community. That together we can apply community imagination and creativity to foster a sense of well-being and belonging.

As an organization that was born from disruption, we understand that change is inevitable and hard. It is with our deep gratitude and appreciation for the people and places of the CEZ that we welcome a new year together

Thank you for supporting our work and each other.

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The Year that Was

Like many organizations, we began 2020 with a great deal of momentum and ambition. 

At a well-attended Community Imaging Session in February, neighbors and community leaders gathered to share their ideas for a livable neighborhood with more walkable, welcoming streets, particularly focusing on the Raymond-University area. (If you missed the meeting, you can read the resulting community feedback online.)

   Photos: Community Open House at CoCreatz, February 6, 2020. Hosted by Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ), Saint Anthony Park Community Council (SAPCC), and the office of Councilmember Mitra Jalali.

Then the world changed with the arrival of Covid and the shutdown in March.

We were forced to postpone the 2020 Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, release our partners and funders of their commitments, and watched as contracts for our commercial real estate services dried up. A new reality was settling in. Then the city burned and we awoke to a new understanding of historical trauma. 

By summer we realized we could no longer sit by and wait. With funds from two key supporters, Knight Foundation and MRAC, we set about commissioning new murals as a way to support local creatives and businesses affected by the pandemic, and further our goals and belief that more public art in our community will help raise the profile of the CEZ as a destination; support and connect the places and people that live, work and play here; and add to the long-term beauty, vitality, safety, and walkability of our neighborhood.

    
Photos: 2020 Summer Mural Project signage and artists - Reggie LeFlore, Xee Reiter and RYOE.


The CEZ’s Real Estate team, while slow to recover its pre-pandemic trajectory, resumed brokerage services, relocating new businesses to the CEZ and taking on commercial property management for one client. By late summer, the team received a tremendous boost with a $200,000 award from the City of Saint Paul Neighborhood STAR program to launch a grant and loan program, available to small businesses, commercial properties and nonprofits located in the CEZ for capital improvement projects. Watch for programs details and application materials to be posted online by January 4, 2021.

By fall, nine new murals had been added to the walls of CEZ businesses, six through the CEZ’s efforts. We celebrated at our first Outside Open House in October, and continue to promote safe, self-directed tours of the 24 (and counting!) murals in the CEZ. All powerful testaments to the beauty and wonder of creative enterprise. Gifts to a community that has embraced them. 
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People are taking notice. Cited as an important example of "placemaking" designed to prevent "displacement and gentrification in neighborhoods,” the CEZ’s artists and murals were featured prominently in the Star Tribune’s GIVING BACK special section on November 5. 

Making Connections

Each day is an opportunity for connection. Thank you for sharing yours with us!

"Thank you for all you do to add vitality to the city of Saint Paul. We wish you well in these challenging times."

“South SAP looks exponentially better thanx to the CEZ colorful murals. Thanx for organizing this.” 

“Enjoyed seeing the artists in the Creative Enterprise Zone creating this mural so well and so quickly...drive by this every day…” 

“I know things like this are a lot of work so thank you to everyone who helped organize it and lead and take notes and participate. This is so helpful for keeping people connected and invested in our neighborhood.”

“With the separation from people that this year has been, the murals are a great way to take in art from the community …I occasionally just take a drive around the warehouse space to check out the cool new art with my son.”

“Beautiful! ❤️ Can't wait to see it in person! Thank you CEZ for preserving the creative hearts in the zone.”

“I think what CEZ provides is unique and adds value to the neighborhood (and subsequently to my property value/rental rates) so think it's worth some measure of contribution from a beneficiary like me.”

“This is awesome!”

Transforming the CEZ, One Wall at a Time


Photo: The west wall of 2340 Charles Ave (before) and "Bird Enterprise Zone" by Beatrix*Jar (after).

Photo: The six-story mural, still in process, by Wes Winship located at 727 Vandalia St.

While it wasn’t the year (or the festival) we envisioned, small projects can lead to big impact. Our 2020 Summer Murals Project achieved these outcomes: 

• Successfully commissioned 6 new murals in the CEZ

• Hired 8 local artists, one house painter and one video production firm

• Engaged 6 CEZ building owners, their tenants and customers

• Established 5 new in-kind partnerships to support the project

• Secured new media coverage and increased social and web traffic

• Engaged key partners, supporters and volunteers

• Hosted Outside Open House community event with self-guided mural tours

• Promoted all the murals located in the CEZ (24 and growing), including 3 additional new murals created through private partnerships

• Uplifted artists and a community struggling during the pandemic

• Generated increased visitors to the area and more visitors for local businesses of the CEZ

Want to see more murals in the CEZ?
Is there a wall you would like to nominate or donate? Interested in becoming a sponsor or in-kind partner? Contact Angela Casselton at director@creativeenterprisezone.org

MANY THANKS to our partners, artists, business owners and community for giving us this opportunity to create beauty and wonder in our neighborhood. Special thanks to Knight Foundation and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council for their financial support, and our in-kind partners Kraus-Anderson, Equipt Contractor Supply, Wet Paint and Sherwin Williams.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to Venn Productions for this very cool video of the 2020 murals.


Photo: (Above) North wall of 809 Carleton St. before murals and (below) Xee Reiter's "Wonderland" mural.
 



Photo: Witt Siasoco's mural in progress on the north wall at City Desk, 2642 University Ave W.

Photo: Wundr and Ryoe transformed the south wall of Metal Treaters Inc., 878 Prior Ave N.


Photo: The west wall at Twin City Janitor Supply, 2345 University Ave W. (before) and Reggie LeFlore's finished mural, titled The Afrocentric Spectrum (after).

Invest in the CEZ

All of us have a role to play in transforming our streets and neighborhoods. As the fastest growing neighborhood in Saint Paul, we have a unique opportunity to foster a thriving district of creativity and innovation centered in an equitable and just community of economic and environmental well-being.

We need your voice. We need your time and advocacy. We need your support.

Your year-end tax deductible donation to the CEZ will support the Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival, public art and greening initiatives, outreach and the rebuilding of our community including affordable spaces for artists and creative work.

We can’t do this work without you!

Donate today. #MakeItHere
 

CEZ Mission and Vision  

Our mission (the organization) 

We attract and support creative people and businesses to #MakeItHere! 

Our vision (the place) 

A thriving district of creativity and innovation centered in an equitable and just community of economic and environmental well-being. 

Values:      Imagination, innovation, and creativity
                  Community-driven and place-based
                  Regenerative and equity-focused
                  Accessible and resilient

Actions:     We educate. We engage. We advocate.
                  We work for community, economic, and environmental well-being and belonging.
                  We apply community imagination to foster development of this place.

Photo: The ever delightful Art Collective/Dynamic Duo Beatrix*Jar, also known as muralist Jacob Aaron Roske (JAR) & Bianca Janine Pettis (Beatrix).