Zara Cimone: Redefining Self and Purpose
Written by Dylan Adles
Published on August 10th, 2026
Growing up in Avondale, Arizona, Zara Cimone tried various extracurricular activities including track, basketball, and dance. Dance was Cimone’s passion for quite some time, and she dreamed of becoming a professional hip-hop dancer. When the pandemic began Cimone was living in a dance house in Ontario, California. The pandemic forced her to move back to her hometown of Avondale, ultimately allowing for Cimone’s journey as a creative to begin and eventually flourish.
Upon moving back to Avondale, Cimone began to create increasingly. While living in Avondale Cimone was forced to live in a house where abuse was present. She found solace in art and creating. During the day she would stay in her room, often sleeping, to escape her tumultuous living situation. At night Cimone was able to focus on creating. She says “There were nights where I would just stay up all night painting, just because that was the only time I would have […], during the day […] I would be asleep and just staying in my room, trying to keep to myself and avoid all of that stress and at night, that was when I would be able to paint.”
Eventually Cimone was able to escape Avondale with her mother and her sister. For a few years Cimone moved around, living in eight different homes, and three different states, eventually landing in New York City in 2022. When Cimone came to New York, she finally was able to settle and start her journey as a full time artist. She began her education at Hunter College, originally studying psychology, but ultimately graduating with a degree in mixed media studio art and a degree in nutrition psychology.
During her time at Hunter, Cimone was able to practice her craft and create numerous pieces, as well as promote recognition of art in the community at Hunter.
During her time at Hunter, Cimone was able to practice her craft and create numerous pieces, as well as promote recognition of art in the community at Hunter. During Black History Month, and her second semester at Hunter, Cimone noticed the lack of promotion of Black history on campus. She had the idea to put up art all around campus to promote black artistry, and was at first denied the ability to do so because of technicalities, but instead was granted permission to host a pop up exhibition.
At this exhibition Cimone brought in various different types of artists to showcase their work for Black History Month, “I wanted it to be for the black community, for black students at school. […] It was a multimedia art exhibition, there were poets, rappers, singers, dancers, art on the wall, artist talks…this year we had a step team perform. Over the years we had fashion through the decades, dance fashion, and a film festival, and a reading of a script. It was just so much art that came from just me wanting to make a difference.”
Cimone describes herself as a visual multimedia artist, working with oil paint, sculpture, and other mediums.
Cimone describes herself as a visual multimedia artist, working with oil paint, sculpture, and other mediums. “I would define my work as empowering and recognizing everyday black life through various landscapes, and sometimes imaginary landscapes as well [as] imaginary characters.” Currently one of Cimone’s favorite pieces is a self-portrait entitled It’s Me O’Clock. Using oil paint, oil pastels, and glass Cimone showcases herself in her room with a clock displaying the time ”ME:00”, a disco ball hanging from the ceiling, as well as other elements that reflect things important in her life. She says “To make [this piece] felt like it was a culmination of all of the growth that I’ve had over this season.”
When creating Cimone credits various things as places of inspiration, but some of the most important things in her artistic narrative are her friends, family, and environment.
When creating Cimone credits various things as places of inspiration, but some of the most important things in her artistic narrative are her friends, family, and environment. Cimone says that being surrounded by artists everyday allowed her to build her practice and maintain it. “Being in New York, being in this environment has really grown me up and developed my own practice – what I like to see, what I want to create – being surrounded by so many creatives who are genuine and lift each other up. That’s all I can ask for.”
Alongside her accreditation of her environment for inspiration, Cimone emphasizes the importance of friends and family in her process. Surrounding herself with people she loves keeps her going, specifically the women in her life and their endless support.
Cimone’s upcoming show “P u r p o s e”, a collection of paintings and poetry, is dedicated to these women in her life, as well as to God.
Cimone’s solo exhibition “P u r p o s e”, a collection of paintings and poetry, was dedicated to these women in her life, as well as to God. Over the past few months Cimone has begun to rethink the meaning of purpose, as well as how her definition of purpose works for her. While Cimone has not settled on her definition of purpose she sees the importance of loving one another, caring for the earth, and taking a moment to just exist. With her exhibit “P u r p o s e” Cimone hopes it will raise questions for the audience that allow viewers to reflect on themselves, rather than seek answers.
Unfortunately one week after the opening of Cimone’s show “P u r p o s e” the venue was unexpectedly closed by the city, leaving Cimone’s artwork locked inside. Cimone says “The show itself already had like a lot of weight [in] doing it. […] I was really happy to have the space and worked really hard to make this show happen [administrative wise and everything]. So when I found out all of my new like sentimental pieces, and just the effort that I put into curating it, […] it really, really, hurt to hear that that happened.” To compensate for the inability to view Cimone’s show she has begun to post (@zaracimone) curatorial reels on her instagram to reflect the experience of attending “P u r p o s e”.