EDUCATION

2004     Bachelor of Arts: Visual & Critical Studies – The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; USA

2009     Master of Arts: Art History (Paleolithic Studies) – l’Université Lumière Lyon 2; France 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024     Nikki SF – The Commonwealth Club; San Francisco, California

2018     Nikki Vismara – Gallery 1317; San Francisco, California

2017     Nikki Vismara – The San Francisco Zen Center; San Francisco, California

2014     Nikki Vismara – L Street Lofts; Sacramento, California

2012     Nikki Vismara: Narratives – Gallery 14; Sacramento, California

2012     Nikki Vismara – The Pick Me Up; Lyon, France

2011     Nikki Vismara – Wilfrid Karloff; Lyon, France

2011     Nikki Vismara – Appartement 16; Lyon, France

2010     Nikki Vismara – Hays; Lyon, France

COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

2026     Waterfall – Ongoing collaboration with nuclear physicist Dr. Kai Vetter (UC Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) translating scientific data into abstract paintings; San Francisco, California

2025     Dogs – Foreword poem “Devotion” for photography monograph by Brian Moore (Vanishing Point Photography)

2022     The Only Way Through Is Slow: Musical commission by composer Libby Larsen inspired by my painting; performed by violinist Dan Flanagan on The Bow and the Brush tour at Carnegie Hall (NYC), London, Paris, and other international cities; recorded for MSR Classics

2020     Into the Interval: Nikki Vismara & Kym Reyes – Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2018     Kat Greene & Nikki Vismara – Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2017     Nikki Vismara & Gerald Arrington – Slate Art at Oakland City Center; Oakland, California

2015     Nikki Vismara & Ellen Markoff – One Sansome; San Francisco, California

2007     Nikki Vismara & Stefan Burnett – Sacramento News & Review; Sacramento, California

JURIED & SELECTED EXHIBITIONS    

2025     stARTup Art Fair San Francisco – Hotel del Sol; San Francisco, California

2024     Ripples – UC College of the Law of San Francisco; San Francisco, California

2023     The de Young Open – The de Young Museum; San Francisco, California

2023     16th Anniversary Show – Secession Art & Design; San Francisco, California

2023     12x12” Invitational – 2121 ArtSpace; San Francisco, California

2022     Textures, Shapes, Patterns, or Forms – Las Lagunas Gallery; Laguna Beach, California

2022     Women Rising – The Drawing Room; San Francisco, California

2021     Cube Art Fair: NFT Edition Miami – Art Basel Miami Beach Art Week; Miami, Florida

2021     Cube Art Fair: The World’s Largest Public Art Fair – Times Square and 100+ digital billboards; New York City, New York

2021     Painting Through the Pandemic – Rhode Island Watercolor Society; Pawtucket, Rhode Island

2021     Quarter Past Moonrise – Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2020     The de Young Open – The de Young Museum; San Francisco, California

2020     Celebration of Art – Marin Society of Artists; San Rafael, California

2020     word – ShockBoxx Gallery; Hermosa Beach, California

2020     Reflections – Arc Gallery; San Francisco, California

2020     First Light – Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2020     Art Palm Springs – with Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2019     Visualizing the Word – Cade Center for Fine Arts; Arnold, Maryland

2019     Everyday Objects – Studio Montclair; Montclair, New Jersey

2019     Small and Smaller – Site: Brooklyn Gallery; Brooklyn, New York

2019     Beyond the Selfie – The Art Center Highland Park; Highland Park, Illinois

2019     Small Works Exhibit – Lemonade Stand Gallery; Key West, Florida

2019     Divergent Evolution – Studio Montclair; Montclair, New Jersey

2019     Craft Revolution – Orange County Center for Contemporary Art; Santa Ana, California

2019     Snap! – Arc Gallery; San Francisco, California

2019     Showroom Exhibition – Kevin Barry Fine Art; Santa Monica & San Francisco, California

2019     Bone Black – DZINE Gallery; San Francisco, California

2019     Ghetto Tech – Good Mother Gallery; Oakland, California

2019     Water Music – DZINE Gallery; San Francisco, California

2019     Art Palm Springs – with Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2018     Black and White – Core New Art Space; Denver, Colorado

2018     stARTup Art Fair Los Angeles – The Kinney Venice Beach, Venice, California

2018     Purely Abstract – Healdsburg Center for the Arts; Healdsburg, California

2018     ArtSpan Benefit Art Auction – SOMArts; San Francisco

2018     stARTup Art Fair San Francisco: ArtSpan Juried Room – Hotel del Sol; San Francisco

2018     X Materia – DZINE Gallery; San Francisco, California

2018     Cracking Nutshells – DZINE Gallery; San Francisco, California

2018     Modernism Week – with Gallery 925; Palm Springs, California

2017     Burning Bright – DZINE Gallery; San Francisco, California

2017     TThe Depth of Perception – Barba Contemporary; Palm Springs, California

2017     Khrome Studios Showroom – San Francisco Design Center; San Francisco, California

2017     Marching Home – The Tides Thoreau Center at The Presidio; San Francisco, California

2016     100 Years,100 Artists – Kondos Gallery at Sacramento City College; Sacramento, California

2016     Tracks and Echoes – DZINE Gallery; San Francisco, California

2016 SF Scenes (Super Bowl 50 Celebration) – Gallery 1317; San Francisco, California

2016     Art for Asylum – Like Minded Gallery; San Francisco, California

2016     Group Exhibition – Simone Beckett Gallery; Los Gatos, California

2013     Feast For the Eyes – Blue Line Art Gallery; Roseville, California

ACTIVITIES

Community Advisory Board Member, Reducing Exposure with Air Cleaners and Technology (REACT) – Multi-institutional air-quality study with UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Brightline Defense addressing pollution exposure in Bayview-Hunters Point; San Francisco, California (2025-present)

OSHA 24-Hour HAZWOPER Certified – Completed Hazardous Waste Operations & Emergency Response training for environmental health and field safety (2025)

Camino del Norte Pilgrimage – Walked approximately 635 miles in 28 days from Bayonne, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2024)

Community Steering Committee Member, Assembly Bill 617 Bayview-Hunters Point / Southeast San Francisco – Appointed advisor partnering with state and regional government agencies and residents to co-design community-led air quality and environmental justice strategies; San Francisco, California (2023-present)

Board Member, Shipyard Trust for the Arts – Governance and strategic planning for nonprofit supporting 300+ artists at Hunters Point Shipyard Artists; San Francisco, California (2020-present)

Committee Member, ArtSpan San Francisco Open Studios – Helped organize annual citywide event supporting hundreds of Bay Area artists; created & developed West Side Art Bike Tour; San Francisco, California (2017-2020)

Volunteer Art Teacher, ArtSeed – Taught youth art workshops in summer intensive program; San Francisco, California (2016-2019)

Juror, Youth & Student Art Competitions – Juror for regional student exhibitions & competitions, including the Nancy Pelosi Congressional Art Competition at the Asian Art Museum; California (2016-2019)

Live Painting/Purse Monogramming – Neiman Marcus & Saks Fifth Avenue; San Francisco, California (2016-2018)

Grain de Sable – Humanitarian work promoting clean water and education for families in remote villages; Tegourou, Mali and Lyon, France (2011-2014)

Adjunct Faculty, The National Institute of Applied Sciences – Developed and taught specialized Art History and English curriculum; Lyon, France (2008-2013)

Guest Lecturer, Social Entrepreneurship Seminar – Grenoble Business School of Management; Grenoble, France (2011); Beginning Drawing – Sacramento City College; Sacramento, California (2006)

PRESS & MEDIA

7x7:For Hunters Point painter Nikki SF, it's all gold sneakers & larger-than-life abstracts” – by Shoshi Parks (2022)

Oh Hell No! And Other Ways to Set Some Damn Boundaries – Chronicle Books (2021)

Where the Sky Meets the Sea – Micro-documentary by EMS Legacy Films (2020)

Le Mag Francophone – Interviews in French by Annie Joly (2018 & 2020)

Palm Springs Art Patron: "Dark Matter" – by Christine Dodd (2018)

Vie Magazine – Artist profile & interview (2017)