About the Festival

It began as an idea among friends at Forecast Public Art and Burlesque of North America. Install large outdoor murals on the vast walls of commercial buildings in a historically industrial area of Saint Paul. The dream became a reality through a founding partnership with the Creative Enterprise Zone (CEZ), a city-recognized district and nonprofit organization dedicated to attracting and supporting creative people and businesses in the geography of South Saint Anthony Park and the Midway.

As the first and largest mural festival in Minnesota, the inaugural Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival was launched in 2019 with fifteen local, national and international muralist creating twelve outdoor murals, and a variety of programs, artist talks, demonstrations and community collaborations over 8 days.

Since then Chroma Zone has continued to create murals (50+ and counting), support artists with a strict all artists get paid policy, and host programs and events that bring together artists and community to foster connection, well-being and belonging.

As the creative consultant for Chroma Zone, Forecast Public Art brings a deep knowledge of the district (having been located here for over 25 years) and a mission to advocate for public art that advances justice, health and human dignity. “As a national organization, we are concerned that many mural festivals continue to lag behind in ensuring full representation of BIPOC, women and non-binary artists. We see a part of our role with Chroma Zone to disrupt the mural festival status quo.”

As producer and host, the Creative Enterprise Zone recognizes the importance of presenting the fullest narrative of our rich and diverse creative community, and seeks to establish deeper relationships with our muralists and community to help build equity, retain local wealth, generate economic capital, and foster feelings of belonging and well-being.

The CEZ is committed to public art as a means to advance creative, cultural, and economic development through collaboration and connectivity. We strive toward these shared goals:

  1. To contribute to the long-term beauty, economic vitality, safety and walkability of the CEZ

  2. To support and connect the creative and entrepreneurial community that works and lives here to #MakeItHere

  3. To raise the profile and identity of the CEZ as a center of creative economic activity and a creative destination.

About the Creative Enterprise Zone

Located mid-city between downtown Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Creative Enterprise Zone is a recognized center of creativity and enterprise, a place where people make a living by their creative capacities.

The geography of the CEZ is defined by its western edge at the Minneapolis border on Emerald Street, crossing Highway 280 to follow University Avenue to its eastern edge on Prior Avenue. From the north, start at the railroad tracks by Energy Park Drive, and end at Interstate 94 on the south. The Zone is accessible from the METRO Green Line on University Avenue from the Westgate, Raymond and Fairview stations.

The CEZ 501(c)3 nonprofit org is dedicated to advancing creative, economic, and cultural development (creative placemaking.) We work to attract and retain creative people and businesses (Community Development); prevent creative displacement through acquisition of real estate (Community Investment); and work to foster a more vibrant and connected creative community through Public Space (Community Engagement) activations such as the the Chroma Zone Mural & Art Festival and 100 Trees Initiative.

Learn more at CreativeEnterpriseZone.org.

About Forecast Public Art

Forecast is a non-profit arts organization founded in 1978 by and for artists working in public space. Based in Saint Paul, MN and working both locally and nationally, Forecast connects artists with cities, institutions and communities to courageously tackle the vital issues of our time. We partner with decision-makers and stakeholders on arts and cultural planning efforts, and support public artists with funding, training and opportunities to create partnerships and advance their public art careers. We also help others find, select, curate, fund and commission public artists.

Forecast emphasizes access for artists of color, Indigenous and/or Native artists, and groups that are traditionally excluded.

Learn more at forecastpublicart.org.