OUR STORY

The Blue Zebra story began in 2010 when street artist Reagan Balozi opened the doors to his first small store. 

For as long as he could remember, he had envisioned a community art store where his fellow artists could come together and showcase their works. For years he walked the streets of Tanzania for hours on end, selling his paintings and saving his earnings for the future.

Finally he had saved enough to open his very first tiny store, which although filled with love and exceptional art, could only hold about 8 customers at a time. And that was a squeeze! But through hard work and determination, that beautiful store grew into 3 huge impressive stores that present the art of many Tanzanian artists.

Reagan always wanted to be successful, yet he never wanted to be successful alone. He wanted his community to rise up right alongside him and with his compassion, drive and humble nature, through Blue Zebra he has achieved just that.

OUR BELieFS

Throughout the years and success, at the heart of Blue Zebra our beliefs have remained the same. That belief is the importance of community and raising each other up through art and Tanzanian culture.

We strive to…

• Work with many artists in Africa to help showcase their work and provide future opportunities using their talent.

• Have our artists reach out to others within the community and help teach valuable skills. Therefore creating a cycle of employment and growth.

• Teach business skills, so people with artistic talents can turn that into an income. By providing growth paths we have watched many of our people become successful.

• Believe in people. There is so much talent out there to discover and we want to turn their ideas into action!

• Show African people in poverty that they can still find success and better their lives. In order to break the cycle we need to get more people acquiring worthwhile skills and into employment.