Red Wing Creative Laureates: Our Community is Your Canvas

It’s happening. It’s here! I am so proud to share that the Creative Laureate Program is becoming a reality this year. After two years of program development, it’s been a special experience to witness this program evolve: from its humble beginnings as my capstone project from my time in graduate school, to a tangible community-driven change project.

The evolution of this program has been so deeply intertwined with my own creative leadership journey. The story of how this program came to be, is also one of how I have embraced and embodied growth. From 2023 - 2024, I was about to embark on a new chapter in my personal and professional life: one full of change and movement. I had just graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design with my Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurial Studies and was about to begin graduate school in the Master of Arts in Creative Leadership program at MCAD. I had also made a career pivot from years of public library service to now step into my first leadership position as the Communications & Marketing Manager at a small nonprofit organization serving the Latine community in rural southeastern Minnesota. I had just bought my first home in the area around this time and in the midst of all this is how I found myself in Red Wing.

While it was somewhat unbeknownst to me just how much my life was about to change; I knew that there was something special happening here. While Red Wing might seem somewhat unassuming on the surface, it has proven to be a hub for arts and culture. This growing city is situated alongside the Mississippi River and sits on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Set against a backdrop of the towering bluffs of He Mni Can (or Barn Bluff): Red Wing has plenty of history, including a proud heritage of ingenuity and industriousness, rural rivertown charm and driftless region geography.

Red Wing, MN is an integral part of the ancestral homelands of the Dakota people: namely the Prairie Island Indian Community, also known as the Mdewakanton, meaning “those who were born of the waters”. They are the original stewards of this land and have lived here over the course of many generations. The City of Red Wing itself was named in the honor of a 19th century Chief Red Wing, or Hupahuduta, meaning “wing of the wild swan dyed red”. He was a prominent Indigenous leader of the area at the time.

Today, Red Wing is home to a population of over 17,000 people. It’s a dynamic place where the community is made up of longtime residents, new transplants putting down roots, and visitors just passing through. This is a great strength- as the city holds a unique and personal meaning for every individual. As for my own experience having lived and worked here over 4 years, it’s been a period of my life that’s been marked by a gradual transformation mostly through community organizing. In 2023, I had the honor of leading the Hispanic Heritage Festival: an event that brought together a variety of artists, entrepreneurs and culture bearers to celebrate and uplift Latine cultural heritage. Then the following year in 2024: I was appointed as the Chair of the Arts & Culture Commission with the City of Red Wing, MN. This experience greatly expanded my understanding of creative leadership and put into practice my learning around systems change, community-building, spatial justice and place-keeping. It’s been an incredible honor to serve the community alongside my fellow commissioners and neighbors.

Reflecting on the journey here: I am so grateful and thankful to everyone who took a chance on me, to everyone who had welcomed me into this community and all who contributed their support for this initiative. It sincerely means the world to me to be a part of this growing movement to uplift artists as changemakers in our communities. 

There is no more perfect time than now! Now more than ever: we need to find ways to bring unity to our communities. We know that the arts are essential to our collective wellbeing, and can serve as a launchpad for meaningful dialogue and positive impact. Arts and cultural experiences are the key to dissolving divisions, recognizing our shared humanity, and connecting our communities. Commissioner Stone said it best during our meeting on November 19, 2025 when we approved the program launch: “Art is the thing that makes us most universally human and most humanly connected to each other”.

This Creative Laureate Program was designed by the City of Red Wing Arts & Culture Commission to support and uplift our local artists as changemakers. We invite artists and culture-bearers alike to share your project ideas with us and apply to receive an honorarium of up to $1,200 to support your creative projects. So whether you would like to paint a community mural, teach an arts workshop, create an interactive art installation or even perform music or poetry in town- we would like to pay it forward by supporting you in your creative journey and bridge our community together through your work. 

Your art has the power to make a positive difference; and we invite you to let our community be your canvas!

My hope for the Creative Laureate Program is that the legacy lives on, and that Red Wing, MN can continue to be a place of opportunity and growth for emerging artists. 

With special thanks to our 2024 - 2026 Arts & Culture Commission (who supported program development and moved to approve through unanimous vote), to my MACL graduate school cohort (affectionately known as “the Catfish”, because we are so cool and anti-establishment like that), to our late mentor Diane Ragsdale (may she rest in peace and may her legacy live on through each and every person she inspired), and to many others who advised us along the way. We could not have done this without you! 

Thank you. 

With a grateful heart, 

Zamira Mendoza, MACL ‘24

References

• Arts & Culture Commission | Red Wing, MN
• Indigenous Peoples | Red Wing, MN
• History & Sacredness | Red Wing, MN
• City Spotlight - Red Wing | Great River Rail
• Red Wing | Mississippi River, Historic Sites, Manufacturing