A piece by Mark Zimmerman on display at the Jamestown Arts Center

JAMESTOWN, N.D. (Arts Center) – Mark Zimmerman searches the open space of the high plains for inspiration, journeys into the mountains for thin air and the badlands for solace, and returns to his studio to produce abstract paintings and drawings that capture something of the feel of the western landscapes he loves.

Paintings and drawings with ink transfers of watercolor and graphite are Mark’s exuberant expression of the landscape he will be featuring in Demarcations: Paintings and Drawings. Mark, once an executive director of The Arts Center now calls the Black Hills and Northern Great Plains home. His paintings and drawings are “his way of advocating and speaking for the stark beauties of these imperiled lands.”

At Minnesota State University (Moorhead), Mark began a serious pursuit of fine art informed by earlier diverse interests. Graduating with a BFA in printmaking, Mark continued his education at Illinois State University, earning an MS in printmaking and an MFA in painting.

By chance, rather than by choice—as life often unfolds—Mark returned (fortuitously) to North Dakota, eventually taking a position at a combined art gallery / performing arts space. Unaccountably, it was there that he met another artist, Mary Wipf. Today, married, they live and work in the Black Hills of South Dakota, a much-beloved environment that enriches and informs their lives together and lives as artists.

Admission to the gallery is free and open to all.