Jill Ziccardi grew up on Long Island (NY) in a traditional Italian working-class family, where women had little power, creating awareness in her about gender inequity, from a young age. She pursued an academic curriculum as a high school student but often struggled; art was an arena where she felt comfortable and successful and could express herself.
As a first generation college student, Jill earned a BFA in Art (with honors) from Carnegie Mellon winning department awards in her sophomore, junior and senior years. There, she studied with renown abstract painter Sam Gilliam, who became her mentor for many years to come, exposing her to non-traditional approaches to painting. After graduating with a double-major in painting and printmaking, Jill accepted a full-tuition merit scholarship to obtain her MFA in Painting from School of the Art Institute in Chicago (SAIC). Afterwards, she remained in Chicago and began exhibiting her work. Jill also became an active long-term member at the noted women’s cooperative Artemisia Gallery, and became a member of the feminist graffiti art collective, SisterSerpents, further influencing her artistic vision.
Her work takes inspiration from a seemingly unremarkable 20 second experience when she was a young artist. One day, she stepped into an elevator full of men, one of whom was discussing his affections for a woman he enthusiastically referred to as a “hot little tomato!” The image of a sexy woman as a tomato amused and offended her simultaneously, and ignited her sassy sense of humor. In addition, the image of a tomato made a meaningful connection to her ethnic Italian heritage, but also to the objectification and devaluation of “the female”, that was well known to her growing up. This chance encounter opened a Pandora’s box of ideas that she is still executing today, and likely indefinitely.
At age 26, she secured her first teaching post at Valparaiso University as a painting professor. She taught college students for the next 8 years (SAIC, Columbia College, University of Illinois, among others) in studio and classroom settings, focusing on a curriculum that explored the responsibility of the artist in society, an important subject for her. This led her out of academia and into underserved communities, using art as a vehicle to build relationships, visual literacy and community with low-income youth and families. Later, these experiences steered her to museum education (Art Institute of Chicago, Guggenheim) and leadership positions at Free Arts NYC, 1199 Child Care Corp and other non-profit arts organizations.
In 2001, the artist returned to NY, and lived in Red Hook, Brooklyn until buying property in the Hudson Valley in 2010, where she now resides. Jill is an accomplished artist, a passionate educator and a do-gooder. She has always maintained an active studio practice and has been exhibiting her work nationally for decades. In addition to numerous solo shows and many awards in juried exhibitions, recently, Jill’s painting Broken Heart, was a Finalist in the 2023 Rare Artist contest with The EveryLife Foundation/Washington, DC. In 2024, Jill founded 9W Artists, an eclectic, culturally diverse group of artists pursuing various approaches to contemporary painting, exhibiting as a group and aspiring to become a force in the mainstream artworld. Jill’s paintings can be seen in a number of private and museum collections across the United States.