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A black and white portait of the head and shoulders of a woman with a painting out of focus behind her.

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.

Stay connected

@sarahzimmermakes

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

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