Norman Stiegelmeyer was a visionary surrealist. He coined the term Visionary Art in reference to the art that was produced in the late 1960's inspired by elevated states of consciousness and concerned with spiritual transformation.
He taught many of the seminal artists in the California Visionary Artists Group at the San Francisco Art Institute including; Nick Hyde, Bill Martin, Bonnie Bisbee, Josie Grant, and many others. His paintings are in the permanent collections of the Oakland Art Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In 1967 his work was included in the Whitney Museum of New York, Contemporary Artists Exhibition. His work is referenced in Elmer Bishoff's, "The Ethics of Paint", and Thomas Albright's, "Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-1980".