A Casual Chat with Cecilia Caparas Apelin, Co-Founder of Ciel Creative Space

Aura Casting was so honored to speak with Cecilia Caparas Apelin last week on Instagram Live! Cecilia co-founded Ciel Creative Space 4 years ago, and Taylor had a great time chatting with her about how Ciel is truly the perfect place to work, film projects or hold events. It was a dream to host our Holiday Launch Party in Studio 5 🥰

Here’s an excerpt from our delightful conversation!

Taylor: What was the inspiration for Ciel Creative Space? Tell us your story!

Cecilia: The concept of Ciel was in my head over a decade ago, like 2008/2009, when I was traveling the world and going in and out of all these different studios. I was like, ‘I want to have cool studio space to go to in the East Bay, because that’s where I’m born and raised.’ That’s where I’ve always lived. I was working out of New York, working out of LA, working out of all these gorgeous cities, and of course, San Francisco. And I was like, ‘Why don’t we have a space in the East Bay that I can create out of?’ This was back in 2008. So I put all of these ideas in a notebook, and found the notebook years later, and here we are. Here’s Ciel.

Taylor: I’m very inspired as an artist by your branding. As a brand, you don’t ask permission to be who you are. Every time that I see your brand in newsletters, promoting community events or on social media, I feel like you’re owning it and going full tilt. And I feel like we just need more of that. It’s such a welcome fixture in the Bay Area.

Cecilia: I’m just rebellious by nature. I grew up Catholic, constantly questioning the environment. I was super traditional in my upbringing. I had to get the good grades. I always had to lead with example. However, I had this rebellious essence about me that you just can’t tame. With the light, you have the dark. With the black, you have the white. That’s kind of how the Ciel branding came about. I was like, ‘I’m just going to have fun with this.’ I’m a little sassy. I’m classy. It’s my personality wrapped up into a brand.

Taylor: You have such a wonderful space, filled with a variety of plants! What inspired you to design the space in this way?

Cecilia: I just wanted to bring the outside in. That’s the main goal. We have all of the industrial elements, the concrete, the steel. I wanted to bring nature closer. That’s part of the reason why I picked that specific space. It has the big windows to let the natural light in. You know that Ciel means sky in French. So the sky is the limit. We think big. But we needed the grounding elements of the wood and the plants to center the ideas. That’s part of the reason why we have tons of plants. The number 1 question that I always get is, ‘Who waters the plants?’ It’s my parents! My mom and dad. The plants are living, breathing organic elements that need lots of nurture and care. So they come in around 3 times a week on average. And I get to see my parents at work!

Watch the full interview here.

This interview has been edited for clarity.