The Story Behind Toolbox

With her own two hands, builder and artist Seyona Belai raised the intersection she stands at — placing equal emphasis on craft and creativity.

After being awarded her Bachelor of Arts degree, as a recent graduate of Lewis & Clark College’s Art History department, she found career instability within the fine arts world — prompting her to turn to construction in search of a living wage. She never thinks of this pivot as an ending, rather it was the beginning for everything to come.

Belai was soon employed on the Rose Garden Arena expansion project, sending her high above the city. Through this work, she witnessed the unspoken choreography of carpenters, plumbers, and steelworkers, all moving with precision and intentionality. From that moment forth, the jobsite transformed from a space of infrastructure to a living studio of collective trust and original craft. A seed was planted miles up in the air. It dug roots in the surrounding community and blossomed into Toolbox.

Hoping to commemorate the skill, pride and presence of trades professionals, Seyona began photographing and painting the people working alongside — closing the divide between the building industry and traditional art spaces. This radical reimagination captured the strength, resilience, and artistry of tradespeople; her works made visible what was rendered invisible or unwanted, culminating in her formative exhibition, Conspicuous Colors. Decades have passed since yet her grounding belief continues to inform Seyona's practice — the trades bear social culture, not simply labor.

Through her position as the founder of ZANA Construction, a union-signatory company, she discovers layers of nuance and depth to the creativity embedded in building. The scale of environments enables tradespeople to sharpen their minds daily, resort to problem-solving, design and execution, until they indulge in a unique language of their own. Seyona’s inclusive perspective dissolves barriers between artist and builder, recognizing the ability for one to be both, without sacrificing passion for either.

Toolbox embodies this convergence — a promise to amplify craft as culture and elevate the people holding up the built world.