Professor Karen Zimmermann has been named interim director of the School of Art for the 2025-26 academic year, University of Arizona College of Fine Arts Dean Andrew Schulz announced.

Zimmermann, currently the school’s associate director, will take over in July for Colin Blakely, who is stepping down as director after 10 years. Blakely has accepted the position of associate provost at the Rhode Island School of Design.

A professor in the school’s Illustration, Design and Animation (IDA) program, Zimmermann also leads the Book Arts & Letterpress Lab. She served as the school’s acting director during the fall 2023 semester while Blakely was on sabbatical.

“I’d like to express my gratitude to Director Blakely, an outstanding leader and mentor with whom I have collaborated for nearly a decade,” Zimmermann said. “I appreciate the support of Dean Schultz, Arizona Arts, and the faculty and staff of the School of Art as I step into the interim director position.

“I feel fortunate to work with such a fantastic group of colleagues and students, and I look forward to collaborating with them in this role throughout the upcoming academic year.”

A national search for a permanent School of Art director is planned, Schulz said, and Zimmermann said she’s “eager to assist” in the process.

“Karen brings to this new assignment a wealth of experience from her years as the school’s associate director, as well as from the semester during which she served as acting director,” Schulz said in a note to faculty and staff. “I am confident Karen will do an outstanding job, and with your support and collaboration the school will move forward in important ways under her leadership.”

Zimmermann has taught Typography, Information Graphics, Motion Graphics, Design History, Design, Culture and Language, Design Studios, Visual Narratives, and Letterpress and the Multiple. Her art practice examines print and book production and visual communication.

She has received numerous grants and awards for her design and artwork, including a School of Art Professional Development Grant, an Arizona Project Grant by the Arizona Commission of the Arts, and the UA Deans Fund for Excellence.  She was a 2020 UA Academic Leadership Institute recipient. Most recently she has  been selected  to be in the 2025 cohort of the Digital Borderlands in the Classroom Faculty Fellowship program.

Her writing has been published in “The Education of a Graphic Designer,” “The Education of an E Designer,” “The Education of a Motion Designer,” JAB (Journal of Artists’ Books), “Design Education in Progress: Methodology and Process,” American Institute of Graphic Arts, Adobe Magazine, FATE, SIGGRAPH, and Zed.

Zimmermann has been on the boards and planning committees to organize several conferences, panels and events for the Amalgamated Printers Association (APA), College Book Arts (CBAA) Annual Meeting and AIGA Geopgraphics. She has presented work in: “Action/Interaction” Panel, Columbia College; Design Studies Forum (DSF) College Arts Association “Collaboration in Design” Panel; the UA Digital Arts Education Symposium; “Women, Identity and Borders” video screenings and presentations; “Alternate Routes” Video Art Series; and “Departure/Arrival A Reflection on Diaspora” Lecture and Visiting Artist.