About the Artist

Zach Bartz (he/him) is a visual artist and performer in Chicago, IL. He frequently draws from his career as an improviser to create colorful critters on upcycled materials. His paintings have been displayed at Chicago staples like the Wndr Museum, Design Museum of Chicago, Cards Against Humanity, Dark Matter’s Star Lounge, Chicago Diner, Columbia College Chicago, Gallery Cafe, and Dimo’s Pizza. As a muralist, his work can be seen at Cards Against Humanity, The Annoyance Theater, Kite String Cantina, The Playground Theater, Cork Lounge, and Graham Cracker Comics Lakeview. He has been a featured artist through the Design Museum of Chicago / DCASE / Chicago Public Health for their Protect Chicago Vaccination campaign, and was the 2021 Chicago Reader 50th Anniversary button contest winner (1990’s). He teaches improvisation and visual art to CPS students through Columbia College Chicago, is an instructor at Studio WIP, created the Painting for Improvisers workshop taught at The Second City Training Center Chicago and the Zmack International Improv Intensive, and co-founded the word-of-mouth variety show The Shithole. His goal as an artist is to connect, affect, and inspire, and he believes that everyone should give themselves permission to create art.