Whether it’s the side of a building in Greensburg, Indiana, or a 70-foot-long fence across from Lambeau Field, former Sturgeon Bay resident Zane Statz likes a massive canvas. 

The 2010 graduate of Sturgeon Bay High School was influenced by the county’s creative environment from an early age, and by his mother, an artist. A more pragmatic influence came from his dad, a mechanical engineer, but art came into sharper focus for Statz when he attended St. Norbert College in De Pere. 

“I went down the poli-sci route and wasn’t happy with that,” he said. “I went down the biology route and was bored with that.” 

James Neilson, assistant professor of art at St. Norbert, opened Statz’s eyes to the limitless possibilities of art. 

Neilson was struck by Statz’s work at a St. Norbert student exhibition. 

“There was one painting that defied easy explanation,” Neilson said. “I could not figure out the artist’s process in creating this strikingly original image. This was both a mark of originality and bold experimentation, two characteristics essential to success in the visual arts. I was very keen on meeting this heretofore unknown artist in our midst.” 

Neilson and Statz connected at the opening reception. With Neilson’s guidance and the help of an art scholarship in his final two years of school, Statz earned a bachelor’s degree in graphic design with a business minor. 

“Having those two mindsets [from mom the artist and dad the engineer] is probably why I ended up with art and business,” Statz said. “It’s kind of those two left and right brains melding together.” 

The idea of painting murals began with a senior-year show. 

“Everything I entered was at least 4 feet by 8 feet,” Statz said. “That’s when I first discovered that I’m not meant to work on small canvases. I was aware of mural art, street art; I was influenced by it but I never saw it as a profitable industry.” 

That changed in 2014 when a homeowner across from Lambeau Field asked Statz to paint his fence in tribute to the team. 

“He found my website and wondered if I was interested,” Statz said. “I jumped on the opportunity.” 

The Lambeau fence has won Statz an American Advertising A––ward from the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF Fox River). 

In 2023, Statz created the Packers Community Mural, a community paint-by-number project on another 70-foot fence featuring quarterback legends Bart Starr, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and the man the Packers hope joins them on legends row – Jordan Love. More than 150 contributors showed up with brushes in hand to work on the project, which was sponsored by BayCare Clinic.

“Green Bay is unique in that it is a community-owned team, so any way to involve the community more is just a win-win,” Statz said. 

The inspiration for a paint-by-number project came from Yonder, an Algoma art gallery that has organized similar projects, including one in Sturgeon Bay.

From breweries and rage rooms (places where people pay to relieve frustrations by smashing things) to fences and buildings, Statz’s murals can be found throughout the state. One of his largest works is outside Wisconsin in Greensburg, Indiana, a town of 12,000 that wanted more color in their community. 

Statz was selected for the job after he answered an online call for artist proposals. He painted 27 sheets of Medium Density Overlay (MDO) plywood and drove the nine hours to Greensburg, then with the help of a construction company, installed the panels for his “Love Grows Here” mural on the side of a three-story building.

“I painted the mural in my garage,” Statz said. “The most I was able to do was put up four plywood sheets at once. It was a fun, unique, scary way to do it.”

Statz doesn’t have a specific style – his brain is always “bouncing around” a little, he said. A few years ago, Statz was diagnosed as bipolar II. “That’s the way my brain has always worked,” he said. That may
make it easier to market his art.  

“I can create something that [the client] has in mind,” he said. “I like a little direction from the client – a little bit of an arrow as to where to start.” 

Today, Statz directs sales and marketing for a manufacturing company in Sturgeon Bay. The art major and business minor seem to be working out just fine.

Statz knows that the decision to pursue a career in art is not always met with support from loved ones. His advice to budding artists is to keep going regardless.

“Anyone, if they have the right passion, if they have the right drive, can do it,” he said. “You have to consistently work at your craft. It’s not just going to come to you. You have to find it and go to it. The harder you work, the farther you’ll get.”