I am Lara Hincapie, an accomplished artist and thespian, and a current student in graduate school. From a very young age I joined the exciting world of theater as an aspiring actress, singer, and dancer. Throughout my youth I trained not only as a performer, but I was also introduced to what would become my first passion–scenic art (painting) and design.

I graduated from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX, with a Bachelor’s of Art degree in Theatrical Design and Technology. After earning my degree I spent several years working as the Charge Scenic Artist for The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and was published by The Guild of Scenic Artists for an article about a faux texture process I created and implemented for an award-winning set at there at the FAC. I also have years of experience freelance set designing for different theaters’ for-youth productions. I am currently enrolled in graduate school and am an MBA candidate at the University of Colorado Denver Business School. I spend my free time working with my best painter friend for our self-started company, Scenic Spark, painting murals, faux-finishing, and specialty painting for residential and commercial properties throughout the state of Colorado. I also enjoy teaming up with my brother, who is a poet, to create children’s books, which he writes and I illustrate.

I have long been drawn to arts education for young people, in large part due to my own childhood and that the arts shaped my life from a very early age. I have taught musical theater acting and dancing to ages ranging from 4-18, as well as studio painting and theatrical painting to high school and college ages. I enjoy teaching art to younger ages, because it helps kids discover themselves, to better understand who they are and who they might want to become; art teaches us about life in so many ways. For me, as a kid, participating in drama was a way to push the limits of my comfort zone, and the perfect challenge to my restless spirit. I have a new found love for teaching literary arts as well, including play studies. But I love teaching the arts in general, especially to youth, because I seek to guide the growth of their inner artist, so that they might find a sense of direction in life through the arts (whether literary, theatrical, or visual arts)– like I was so lucky to find for myself as a young person and turn into my life’s work.

You can check out some of my professional and personal artwork on my portfolio website:

www.LaraHincapie.com