MAKEart Studios began in 2017, offering kids, teens, and adults meaningful opportunities to engage in thoughtful, skill-building art experiences.
Heather Klausa is a professional artist and certified art educator who teaches drawing, painting, and mixed media art classes in her Downers Grove studio. Her classes focus on strong artistic foundations, creative exploration, and small group instruction that allows students to grow their skills and confidence.
Heather is the owner, instructor, and freelance artist behind MAKEart Studios. She was raised in Downers Grove and earned a BFA in Art Education from the University of Illinois, followed by a second BFA in Painting after completing additional studies at the University of Verona in Italy. A professional working artist and certified art educator, she has taught art in public schools and private studios since 2005 and has exhibited her work professionally.
MAKEart Studios operates from Heather’s home art studio in downtown Downers Grove, just down the street from the historic Tivoli Theatre. The small studio setting allows students from surrounding communities such as Lisle, Westmont, Darien, Elmhurst, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, Lombard, and Naperville to work closely with a practicing artist while exploring drawing, painting, and mixed media in a supportive and focused environment.
Heather Klausa
Artist + Educator
Heather grew up in DG and attended Downers Grove South where a passion for the arts developed. She attended the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and University of Verona Italy, where she stayed up late painting and enjoying life for as long as they would let her stay.
An art educator since the early 2000’s, she has worked in Hinsdale, Villa Park and Riverside teaching art from pre-K to high school. She is working from home these days, enjoying teaching and freelancing while always working on a new body of work. She mostly paints but dabbles in anything else that crosses her path and strikes her fancy. She also loves to read, garden & cook.
Most of all, Heather is a creative person that is always looking for excuses to make things and remain distracted from how dirty the kitchen floor is.