Jeff Zimmerman

Jeff Zimmerman began working in Pilsen after spending 3 years volunteering in South America. Interested in continuing his volunteer work with kids, he began teaching art at Casa San Diego through a program at the Art Institute of Chicago. He was approached by Fr. Chuck Dahm at St. Pius V Catholic Church to paint a mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1996. Zimmerman was unfamiliar with muralism, as he had studied graphic design in college. He has since continued to create monumental murals around Chicago which are exceedingly vibrant and often feature hyperrealistic portraits. These murals are highly personalized as they feature individuals from the communities where the work is being created, yet they are simultaneously universal and easily readable, with references to pop culture.

He began to take painting classes and gained pointers from the Chicago Public Art Group about what materials and supplies he would need to make a mural. As he continued producing murals, his technique continued to improve. In 2001, he painted a second work for the church related to the migration of Mexican immigrants. The third work, completing this triptych, touched on the life of these immigrants once they have established themselves in Chicago.

At times, Zimmerman experienced some animosity as a white man making murals on the buildings in the majorly Mexican neighborhood, but as time passed, he became more part of the community. He remembers how people appreciated the murals and would stop to talk to him about his work. Throughout this time he continued to teach art classes and found that he could connect on a more cultural level, using his Spanish skills when needed.

One of his more notable works, which no longer exists, was Freedom Religion and Commerce painted on the side of a local tortillería which featured a portrait of the shop’s original owner and a parishioner of St. Pius who had recently emigrated to Chicago. Zimmerman doesn’t mind that the mural has been whitewashed and says that this is a common occurrence in the public art making practice. As long as the mural is better than the one that was there previously, he believes that it is okay. You can find Zimmerman’s remaining murals in Pilsen near West Cullerton and 19th Street.