Sarah Zimmer (b. 1987, Indiana), grew up in the Midwest where she cultivated a love of art and nature from an early age, spending childhood summers exploring National Parks, absorbing their expansive scenes, the textures of plants, and everything in between.
Zimmer’s artistic practice pursues a reconnection to the true and natural interior self through dismantling the adapted and constraining exterior self. By painting imagined dreamscapes teeming with wild abstracted nature, she creates a space for that buried internal world to break free from restraint. Her colorful, distinctive personal style combines tight brush strokes with uncontrolled, water-warped color to evoke the tensions of coexisting dichotomies and more authentically reflect the layers of our existence. Through painting, she creates more space for the wholeness of being.
Sarah studied entrepreneurship and studio art at Indiana University and illustration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, spending 10 years in Chicago before moving to Austin in 2021. She returned to Chicago in 2023, where she now resides.
Zimmer’s work has been featured in publications including The Chicago Tribune and Martha Stewart Weddings, as well as exhibitions in Chicago, Austin and the Hudson Valley.
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Selected Exhibitions
Ether
2324 Studios
Austin, TX — 2023
Within This Expanse
Vantage Points, The Post Office
Port Ewen, NY — 2022
Welcome to the Neighborhood
Museum of Contemporary Art
Chicago, IL — 2015
Urban Life
The Box Gallery
Chicago, IL — 2014
Professional Associations
Artist & Collective Member
Vantage Points
Brooklyn, NY — 2022-present
Resident Artist
2324 Studios
Austin, TX — 2023
Education
Typography: Rome, Masters Workshop
School of Visual Arts
Rome, IT — 2018
Design
Chicago Portfolio School
Awards: Best of Quarter (x2)
Chicago, IL — 2016-2017
Illustration
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, IL — 2013-2015
B.S., Entrepreneurship
Minor: Studio Art
Indiana University, Kelley School of Business
Direct Admission to Kelley School of Business, Hutton Honors College
Recipient of Indiana Advantage Scholarship
Bloomington, IN — 2005-2009
Other Experience
Associate Design Director
Upshot
Chicago, IL — 2019-present
Founder
Sarah Zimmer Illustration & Design
Chicago, IL — 2012-present
Senior Designer
Havas
Chicago, IL — 2018-2019
Art Director
Arc Worldwide
Chicago, IL — 2017-2018
Account Manager
Getty Images
Chicago, IL — 2010-2017