Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, Monica Zanetti moved to Springfield six years ago and quickly made a name for herself in the community. After initially being one of five artists exhibiting at Wild Rose, she bought the downtown art studio and retail shop and now provides space for more than 30 local artists to display and sell their items. Zanetti has also established the Wild Rose Scholarship Fund to assist local children with art classes and supplies and started the Springfield Cultural Arts Foundation to promote and celebrate the diverse arts community in Springfield.
In 2024, Zanetti received a Hispanic Heritage Month award from Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs. She currently serves as president of Women Entrepreneurs of Central Illinois and is on the board of directors for Downtown Springfield, Inc. and the Memorial Foundation.
She and her husband have two children and "an army of pets," she says.
Where were you born and raised, and what was your first job?
I was born and raised in Alameda, California, a little island off of Oakland and San Francisco. It was an absolutely wonderful place to grow up – lots of freedom, always on our bicycles and roller blades with lots of friends.
My first official job was selling at little orange or lemonade stands. When I was in seventh grade, I asked my mom if I could be an Avon representative. I went door-to-door and had fun putting makeup on people and they were great; they always supported me. Then I went into retail in high school.
How did you become involved in the arts?
I'm Mexican American, and my culture is very artsy. We made decorations for celebrations in our house, and when I was in Mexico. We made piñatas from scratch, or we used tissue paper to make flowers. We decorated the streets for Easter and made big flowers for our doorways, or big happy birthday, "feliz cumpleaños," banners. That has always been part of my identity.
What drew you to Springfield?
My husband got a wonderful job here in Springfield. We were living in Chicago, and he tried to commute here for about four months. After that I said, "I think we need to move to Springfield." So we came down and found a beautiful place by Washington Park, and we absolutely love it here.
How and why did you start Wild Rose?
Wild Rose was founded by five artisans who lived in Springfield. When I moved here, we found each other, and I was one of the artists in there. After a few months, they saw the energy I had and asked if I would like to take it over. I was ecstatic and said I would love to do it. It was a dream come true. I expanded it into a gallery and work-art space for artists and coaching.
We manifest our dreams; we teach people how to be successful artists. That's one part that I absolutely love, the teaching aspect of helping artists. Being in the heart of downtown Springfield has been a godsend.
Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?
I grew up in the women's movement. I was born in the 1970s, and I saw my mom pushing through that. So a lot of my art has those elements of women's empowerment, and also elements of my culture. You'll see a lot of symbolism in my paintings of flowers or the Monarch butterflies that migrate back and forth between Mexico and the United States.
I never run out of ideas. I have a little book in which I write down things when I have ideas, so when I want to work on something I go back to my little book and look at all of the things I have thought of.
How does it feel to be considered a leader of the local Hispanic community?
I think it's important for all of us to see a representative of what we look like and who we are in our culture. I just try to be a little piece of that in Springfield. I try to celebrate Hispanic heritage and tell the meaning behind it, what Cinco de Mayo really is. We love to celebrate, but it's good to know why we're celebrating.
When I was a little girl, I loved to see somebody that looked like me. We didn't see a lot of people that looked like me on TV, or if they were, they were cast in a negative light. So I try to be that little positive light in Springfield, and not just to my community, but to women, girls, everyone.
Is Springfield a welcoming community for people of all backgrounds?
I go into rooms where I'm the only Latina and people don't understand how hard it can be to go into a situation like that. There are definitely advocates out there – people who want to see things in a different way or to understand how we feel or how things impact us.
It was very hard to make friends after we moved here, but once I got Wild Rose I knew people would find me, and they have. I have made some amazing friends here.
Is Springfield ready to embrace the Day of the Dead?
Oh, I think they are, but a lot of people don't understand it. For five years now I've done Day of the Dead in my store, and I also teach at the Illinois State Museum. I teach people how to make a Day of the Dead altar. It's a wonderful holiday to think about your loved ones in a different way, to tell their stories and make their favorite foods. There are so many different ways to honor our loved ones. We just need to get beyond the way people confuse it with Halloween, because it has nothing to do with Halloween.
What advice would you give to young people about following their dreams?
Know your dreams. You can follow multiple dreams at the same time. You could study business and art at the same time. I told my son to follow his passion, but he also needs to be smart and learn how to negotiate, how to look at contracts, how to get into galleries.
You have responsibilities, but you can do two things at the same time. Dreams have steps, just break them down and don't overwhelm yourself. Do the first step and once you finish that one, go on to the next step.
What may people be surprised to learn about you?
I got to walk the red carpet with J-Lo. I helped organize parts of the first Latin Grammy ceremony right out of college. Jennifer Lopez was right behind me, and I got to meet Gloria Estefan, Mark Anthony – I got to hobnob with the Latin elites here in the United States.
