IN-HOUSE PROJECTS
See the collaborative projects ZEAL has worked on over the years that demonstrate our ability to provide creative talent development, cultural production, and creative placemaking across the Black diaspora.
ART Studio Incubator Program IN los Angeles (2019-2022)
The ZEAL Art Studio Incubator program developed leadership through an artist development pipeline in Los Angeles, CA, primarily in the South Central, Mid City & Inglewood neighborhoods. This flagship program for ZEAL concieved by Walter Cruz, Allen Kwabena Frimpong, and Ty White implemented alongside Eilen Itzel Mena, aims to culturally and economically strengthen and establish up and coming Black artists and creatives in predominantly Black neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Program participants were welcomed into our Libation Studio stationed in Inglewood at photographer Todd Gray’s property, to create new opportunities for themselves to thrive as black artists through being supported in community by arts professionals in the cooperative in areas of personal development, community building and cooperative entrepreneurship. The artist studio incubator has now been incorporated into our membership model and is no longer available to non-members. As a result, we started to pilot a new community studio incubator in 2023 in Downtown Inglewood and membership for New York and Los Angeles Metro Black creatives with studio practices is forthcoming in 2024.
Creating Spaces for Black Artists to Thrive:
A Multimedia Manifesto for ZEAL
Et Al. contributes to the conversation about arts and cultural management by providing rare, behind-the-scenes insights on justice-centered arts management praxis — ideas tied to action. This manifesto covers the pilot period of one of the few cooperatively owned and Black operated arts studio incubators in the country. Published May 11th 2022. Publishing Without Walls (PWW) is an imprint of the Illinois Open Publishing Network at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
AESTHETICALLY PLEASING (2021)
Aesthetically Pleasing: Investing Globally in Black Aesthetics was a digital event that ZEAL hosted in 2020 during the height of the pandemic in place of our Who Owns Black Art? programming hosted during Art Basel Miami. We held a benefit art market as an alternative to an auction with programming for ourselves, partnering organizations, ACE Consulting, Sugarcane Magazine, and Brilliantly Black, and Black artists nationally through the use of the Clubhouse and Instagram applications.
SPREAD THE WEALTH
Spread the Wealth is one of ZEAL’s offerings to provide a platform for artists to share their gifts and talents with community by conducting skill share workshops concieved by ZEAL co-founder Walter Cruz in 2020 during the pandemic . What began as an initiative during the early stages of the pandemic to help spread our collective knowledge and foster community led to a digital experience for folks to learn from one another’s trades and practices and build relationships with each other.
WHO OWNS BLACK ART?
This is a flagship annual cultural production project of ZEAL. Established In 2019 during Art Basel Miami, this pop-up exhibition interrogates the intersection of art, culture, politics and economic systems in the establishment of art institutions and the art market to ask the provocative question “Who Owns Black Art?” Executive Producer, principal member Tia Oso.
ART KREYÓL
This event was produced in less than 72 hours that turned a capoeira studio into a pop-up community gallery space featuring 10 local Black artists work during Art Basel 2018 in Little Haiti, Miami as a spin off event from Damon Davis’ Darker Gods show which was produced in collaboration with Trap Heals. It was done in collaboration with local group Tribe Kreyól featured in Bas & J. Cole’s music video “Tribe”. This pop-up experiment became the test pilot for what became, “Who Owns Black Art?” Video by Ojos Nebulosos
MASTERMIND SALONS
Mastermind Salons have been a staple of ZEAL’s community engagement since our founding in Brooklyn, New York in 2018 developed by ZEAL prinicipal members Tia Oso, Ty White, Walter Cruz, and Allen Kwabena Frimpong. It is our way to gather like-minded artists across the African diaspora in one space to share knowledge and build a network of change-makers committed to creating spaces for black artists to thrive.
ZEAL LIMITED EDITION POSTCARD BOOKLET
This limited edition of our ZEAL novelty publication is a collection of works from outstanding Black artists (2018-2019). The postcard booklet contains high quality prints of each artists' work in postcard format. 5''x 7'' on perforated card-stock. Printed by one of the oldest and only black-owned full publication houses in America, Black Classic Press ran by Ta-neishi Coates father W. Paul Coates. Assorted cards featuring Ify Chiejina, Damon Davis, Latoya Ruby Frazier, Darnell Moore and bonus postcard of Bisa Butler’s work from Sugarcane Magazine. Video by Ojos Nebulosos. Design by ZEAL co-founders Phillis Kwentoh and Walter Cruz