G & Z’s Artapalooza
First Presbyterian Church of La Grange, 150 South Ashland Avenue, La Grange, IL 60525
About
G & Z’s Artapalooza is a fine arts camp where students take part in activities such as Charcoal Drawing and group papier mache sculptures. The program includes themed sessions such as Castles to Chiaroscuro, Dada to Deco, and AI, Androids & Imagination.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Offering one day - one week classes throughout the year.
G & Z’s Artapalooza is a fine arts camp run by two local teaching artists, Lisa Garrett and Carissa Zill. The camp’s stated intention is to provide a rich, unique art experience where students are challenged to develop a higher level understanding of art, and it states that each individual is capable of greatness when expressing themselves through art. The mission notes that through exercising their imaginations, the arts help students make new connections, transcend previous limitations, and think “outside of the box,” and that students are asked to bring only their open minds.
Lisa Garrett graduated from Boston College and studied Illustration at the Art Institute of Boston, and she received her Masters in Teaching at Dominican University in 2012. She teaches photography, film, and art at Argo High School, and her company, Pixxi Designs, has been in operation since 2005, designing hand-painted furniture and accessories and painting murals for local businesses and homeowners. Her students have earned over $375,000 in college scholarships for artistic merit and earned Best in Show Awards at the South Suburban Conference and Moraine Valley Art Shows.
Carissa graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BFA in Studio Arts with concentrations in painting and printmaking, and she earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Dominican University in River Forest in 2010. Her students have been recognized nationally in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, she is a frequent presenter at the annual Illinois Art Education Association State Conference, and she was recognized as a Symetra HERO in the Classroom and received a $2000 grant for her classroom. When she is not making art, Carissa teaches K–8 art to the students of HBR in Hinckley & Big Rock and coaches a Special Olympics team in multiple sports.
Last updated May 26, 2026.
• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Offering one day - one week classes throughout the year.
G & Z’s Artapalooza is a fine arts camp run by two local teaching artists, Lisa Garrett and Carissa Zill. The camp’s stated intention is to provide a rich, unique art experience where students are challenged to develop a higher level understanding of art, and it states that each individual is capable of greatness when expressing themselves through art. The mission notes that through exercising their imaginations, the arts help students make new connections, transcend previous limitations, and think “outside of the box,” and that students are asked to bring only their open minds.
Lisa Garrett graduated from Boston College and studied Illustration at the Art Institute of Boston, and she received her Masters in Teaching at Dominican University in 2012. She teaches photography, film, and art at Argo High School, and her company, Pixxi Designs, has been in operation since 2005, designing hand-painted furniture and accessories and painting murals for local businesses and homeowners. Her students have earned over $375,000 in college scholarships for artistic merit and earned Best in Show Awards at the South Suburban Conference and Moraine Valley Art Shows.
Carissa graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BFA in Studio Arts with concentrations in painting and printmaking, and she earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Dominican University in River Forest in 2010. Her students have been recognized nationally in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, she is a frequent presenter at the annual Illinois Art Education Association State Conference, and she was recognized as a Symetra HERO in the Classroom and received a $2000 grant for her classroom. When she is not making art, Carissa teaches K–8 art to the students of HBR in Hinckley & Big Rock and coaches a Special Olympics team in multiple sports.
Last updated May 26, 2026.
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