Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art
Encyclopedia
The Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art (TZCVA) is an artist cooperative
located in the historic Warehouse District
of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota
. Founded in 1993, TZCVA was established to create an artist-owned and managed building that provides stable, safe, and affordable studio, teaching and exhibition space for mid-career visual artists. TZCVA is a partnership between Artspace Projects, Inc., a leading national non-profit real estate developer for the arts, and a cooperative of 23 artist-members.
TZCVA is housed in a renovated six-story Chicago style
limestone warehouse located in the North Loop Neighborhood at 250 Third Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401. Built in 1886 for the Moline, Milburn and Stoddard Company as a warehouse for storing farm machinery and implements, the Traffic Zone building is of significant historic and architectural interest and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP).
Members of the TZCVA cooperative have included an eclectic, international mix of painters, photographers, printmakers, conceptual artists, sculptors, book artists, and ceramicists. Many are past recipients of fellowships and grants from the McKnight Foundation
(Minneapolis); the Bush Foundation
(Saint Paul)
; the Jerome Foundation (New York & Saint Paul); the Minnesota State Arts Board (Saint Paul); the Pollock-Krasner Foundation
, (New York); and the National Endowment for the Arts
(Washington, D.C.).
As part of its community-oriented educational mission, TZCVA sponsors workshops, classes, presentations, and quarterly exhibitions of contemporary art by local, national, and international painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, book artists, and installation artists. Organized by co-op artists and guest curators, these exhibitions are presented in the Traffic Zone Gallery, the cooperative's ground floor exhibition space. TZCVA also hosts semi-annual "Open Studio" events to allow members of the public to meet co-op artists and view and purchase artwork in a studio setting.
Current TZCVA artist-members include Harriet Bart, Bruce Bogaard-Hudson, Kristie Bretzke, Perci Chester, David Collins, Lisa Colwell, James Conaway, Jim Dryden, Jil Evans, Bette Globus Goodman, Bonnie Heller, Vesna Kittelson, Paul Kwok, Lisa Nankivil
, Jon Neuse, Howard Oransky, Steve Ozone, Rebecca Pavlenko, Jodi Reeb-Myers, Wilber "Chip" Schilling, Harold B. Stone, Jantje Visscher, and Kathy Wismar.
Commercial and non-profit building tenants include Artspace Projects, Inc., Graywolf Press
, Indulgence Press, IQ Marketing, and LHB Engineers & Architects, among others.
Artist cooperative
An artist cooperative is an autonomous visual arts organization, enterprise, or association jointly-owned and democratically-controlled by its members. Artist cooperatives are legal entities organized as non-capital stock corporations, non-profit organizations, or unincorporated associations...
located in the historic Warehouse District
North Loop, Minneapolis
The North Loop is a neighborhood of the Central community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The neighborhood is commonly known as the Warehouse District from the city's shipping hub years. It includes the Minneapolis Warehouse Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. Founded in 1993, TZCVA was established to create an artist-owned and managed building that provides stable, safe, and affordable studio, teaching and exhibition space for mid-career visual artists. TZCVA is a partnership between Artspace Projects, Inc., a leading national non-profit real estate developer for the arts, and a cooperative of 23 artist-members.
TZCVA is housed in a renovated six-story Chicago style
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
limestone warehouse located in the North Loop Neighborhood at 250 Third Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401. Built in 1886 for the Moline, Milburn and Stoddard Company as a warehouse for storing farm machinery and implements, the Traffic Zone building is of significant historic and architectural interest and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NRHP).
Members of the TZCVA cooperative have included an eclectic, international mix of painters, photographers, printmakers, conceptual artists, sculptors, book artists, and ceramicists. Many are past recipients of fellowships and grants from the McKnight Foundation
McKnight Foundation
The McKnight Foundation is a philanthropic organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The foundation's interests lie in the environment, the arts, community development, and other areas....
(Minneapolis); the Bush Foundation
Bush Foundation
The Bush Foundation was created in 1953 by Archibald Granville Bush an American businessman primarily involved with 3M and his wife, Edyth Bassler Bush. The organization awards $40 million a year to philanthropic organizations, primarily located in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest....
(Saint Paul)
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
; the Jerome Foundation (New York & Saint Paul); the Minnesota State Arts Board (Saint Paul); the Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Pollock-Krasner Foundation
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressionist painter and the widow of fellow painter Jackson...
, (New York); and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
(Washington, D.C.).
As part of its community-oriented educational mission, TZCVA sponsors workshops, classes, presentations, and quarterly exhibitions of contemporary art by local, national, and international painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, book artists, and installation artists. Organized by co-op artists and guest curators, these exhibitions are presented in the Traffic Zone Gallery, the cooperative's ground floor exhibition space. TZCVA also hosts semi-annual "Open Studio" events to allow members of the public to meet co-op artists and view and purchase artwork in a studio setting.
Current TZCVA artist-members include Harriet Bart, Bruce Bogaard-Hudson, Kristie Bretzke, Perci Chester, David Collins, Lisa Colwell, James Conaway, Jim Dryden, Jil Evans, Bette Globus Goodman, Bonnie Heller, Vesna Kittelson, Paul Kwok, Lisa Nankivil
Lisa Nankivil
Lisa Nankivil is a contemporary American painter and printmaker.-Life and work:Nankivil trained with American artist Kinji Akagawa at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design , where she earned a BFA degree in painting in 1995.Nakivil is best known for her non-representational striped-format oil...
, Jon Neuse, Howard Oransky, Steve Ozone, Rebecca Pavlenko, Jodi Reeb-Myers, Wilber "Chip" Schilling, Harold B. Stone, Jantje Visscher, and Kathy Wismar.
Commercial and non-profit building tenants include Artspace Projects, Inc., Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
, Indulgence Press, IQ Marketing, and LHB Engineers & Architects, among others.
External links
- Official website of Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art, Minneapolis
- Artspace Projects, Inc., Minneapolis
- Graywolf Press, Minneapolis
- National Register of Historic Places
- North Loop Neighborhood Association, Minneapolis
- Warehouse District Business Association (WDBA), Minneapolis
- Twin Cities Fine Arts Association