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
2026 Echoes of Parcel G – Hunters Point Shipyard Gallery; San Francisco, California
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
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)
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)
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 de Santiago Pilgrimages - Walked approximately 400 miles along the Camino Portugués from Lisbon, Portugal (2026), and 635 miles along the Camino del Norte from Bayonne, France (2024), both ending in Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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 & TALKS
Artist Panel, Echoes of Parcel G - Hunters Point Shipyard Artists Gallery; Discussed “Waterfall,” an ongoing art and science collaboration translating gamma spectroscopy data into abstract painting; San Francisco, California (2026)
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)