Lara Grimes Kastner was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and raised in Brighton, Michigan. She attended the University of Arizona, where she studied abroad at the Institute of Italian Studies in Florence, Italy. After a year in Italy, she moved to Prague, Czech Republic where she worked as a commissioned painter and English teacher. Lara returned to the United States in 1997. She transferred into the fine arts program at the Columbus College of Art and Design, focusing on printmaking. She received her BFA degree in May of 2001. Her focus has been in lithography, serigraphy, and intaglio. The use of multiples is a characteristic in her work as well as in the printmaking process. Her prints shown are part of a series where she abstracts the gathering of people confined to a given space. It reflects her view toward today's society.