The Salon
Artistic Strands opened its original location in the Indian Creek Mall in Marion, Iowa in 1999. The small salon focused on meeting all of the hair care needs of its clients – from customized hair cutting and coloring techniques to expert styling. In 2007 the salon expanded moving to the intersection of Boyson Road and C Avenue.
After a nearly two decade stay at its previous location, Artistic Strands now sits among the fountains just off Edgewood Road. Along with a larger salon area to accommodate the quickly growing clientele base, an expanded spa area was added to offer professional hair removal services, manicure and pedicure treatments, and lash services.
The team of professionals at Artistic Strands is dedicated to providing guests with exceptional service and expert advice. They are committed to training and education to be able to offer you the most up-to-date looks and services. The staff’s knowledge is passed along to you so you can leave the salon completely satisfied with every visit. In addition we carry some of the best retail products to beautify and balance all of your hair care and beauty needs.
Sarah Klima - Owner and Cosmetologist
Sarah was born and raised in Cedar Rapids, graduated from La'James College in Iowa City in 2002, and has been working at Artistic Strands since 2005. She enjoys working with all ages and hair types, and performs all services on hair that the salon offers, including haircuts, coloring, highlighting, balayage, formal styling, perms, and also facial waxing. Every year, Sarah takes classes and attends hair shows to keep up to date on current cutting, coloring and styling trends.
Over the last few years, Sarah has found her passion in working with curly hair. Since her first curly hair class with DevaCurl in 2011, she has continued discovering innovative approaches to cutting, styling, and coloring curly hair. She currently holds a certification from DevaCurl as a Product Pro, and over the years has taken multiple classes on curly hair from DevaCurl, Innersense, Ouidad and Redken, as well as studied many leading curly techniques such as the DevaCut and Rezo Cut. She has spent countless hours studying the "Curly Girl Method" and loves to work with guests of all curl types to help them reach their full curl potential. Sarah is our advanced Curl Specialist, and would love to meet new guests for a Curly Cut and curl coaching session.
Sarah's top three product recommendations are: Innersense Body Care products, Innersense I Create Volume styling lotion for curly and straight hair to give hair great fullness and shine; and Kenra Volume Spray 25 for ultimate hold and lasting styles.
Denise Mitchell - Cosmetologist
Denise went to school at Capri College in Davenport, and has been doing hair since 1988.
She opened Artistic Strands Salon & Spa in Marion in 1999, in 2007 moved the salon to its previous location in northeast Cedar Rapids, and finally in 2024 passed on the salon to Sarah Klima marking a new chapter in the salon’s history.
Denise focuses her artistic talents on doing hair – cutting, coloring, and highlighting. Of all the aspects of working with hair, her specialty is creating amazing haircuts. The biggest reward she receives is when she is working with a new guest and they say "no one has ever told me or shown me that before."
Denise prefers to use product that you can actually feel in the hair. After all she is a product of the 80's!! She would recommend Kenra Boosting Spray-Foam, Redken Quick Tease, and Pureology Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner to anyone who shares her love of strong hold and volume.
Shayanne Lundborg - Cosmetologist
Shayanne moved from Colorado to attend Capri College, graduating in 2022. She joined Artistic Strands in 2023.
A few of her favorite things to do are formal styles, makeup and highlights. She loves to see the smile on her guest’s face when she is done with each service.
You will catch Shayanne using many different products in the salon but here are some of her favorites: Kenra Dry Texture Spray which is fantastic to add volume for fine hair, Kenra Color Maintenance Thermal Spray is a must to protect hair from the heat of hot tools, and Kenra Whipped Taffy is great to add definition to any style.
Katie Cisneros - Cosmetologist
Katie has a love for edgy, sassy hair that feels effortless. She’s all about shags, lived in color, textured layers, and anything that lets your hair move naturally and look effortless while still having a little attitude. She focuses on styles that are easy to wear and simple to style at home, especially for those with finer or lower-density hair who want that volume and texture without the struggle. Her approach is all about helping you feel unapologetically you — no over-complicated routines, just hair that makes you feel good.
When she’s not in the salon, you can find her wandering farmers markets, playing cozy video games, or hunting for the next great local bite.
Katie's top three product recommendations are: Big Sexy Powder Play, Kenra Air Dry Creme and Redken Quick Blowout.
Julie Haigh - Front Office Specialist
Julie is our front desk specialists who brings a wealth of experience from a successful career in social media marketing.
Making a bold switch in her career path, Julie is now ready to bring her passion for customer service and creativity to our front desk.
With a background in engaging audiences online and creating meaningful connections, Julie is excited to greet you with a warm smile and ensure that every visit to our salon is a memorable one.
In her free time she enjoys attending live music concerts, gardening, house plants and true crime documentaries.
