​Lauren Luna was born in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating from Kent State University’s School of Fine Arts with a focus in painting, she moved to New York City. She began teaching Special Education for New York City schools and entered a Masters program at Manhattan College. Upon graduation, she moved back to her hometown of Columbus along with her son and continued teaching. Later enrolling in the Academy of Art University for her second Master’s degree, in Fine Arts. ​In 2011, Luna relocated to Houston, Texas, pursuing her new life as a full time artist and footwear designer. Lauren Luna was named a Top 50 Entrepreneur by Scion Car Company, participated in Austin and Houston Fashion Week, was featured in British Vogue and Glamour Magazines, and had a shoe design in an exhibit in the Grassi Museum in Germany. She was honored to receive the Margot Siegel Award for Design by the Goldstein Museum of which two pairs of her hand painted shoes are a part of the museum’s permanent collection. ​In 2015, after winning Best In Show at a juried art competition, she was commended by the Alvin Independent School District School Board, and was put into Congressional Record by the District's State Representative. Ohio native Lauren Luna, known as “Your City Painter”, has established herself as a Houstonian devoted to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Houston, Texas. Through her tenure as a teacher of art to elementary, middle, and collegiate students, to her participation in various Houston art events such as Bayou City Art Festival and Via Colori, leading to her murals, and other work being showcased everywhere from billboards to outside of KHOU television station, and culminating in the establishment of the D.R.E.A.M. Affect Foundation and correlating D.R.E.A.M. Art Scholarship. Lauren has worked tirelessly to promote art across the city of Houston as a means to improve the lives of the city’s residents in accordance with the vision and goals set forth by the Mayor himself, the Honorable Sylvester Turner. Who as a thank you for her efforts, presented her with the proclamation of Lauren Luna Day, on July 11, 2020. As a public school and community college instructor in the Houston area, Lauren Luna has helped thousands of students deepen their love and appreciation for the fine arts, nurtured and mentored hundreds more, and set countless individuals on the path to artful endeavors themselves. Her passion for art has been transmitted to every student whom she has taught in a transformative way and she continues to train, inspire, and cultivate those creative souls. Outside of the classroom, Lauren Luna has dedicated herself to the art community of the city of Houston, endeavoring to raise awareness of the need for more formally trained artists of color through the creation of the D.R.E.A.M. Affect Foundation, raising thousands of dollars to support young artists of color in their pursuit of a college education terminating in a degree in Fine Arts. Lauren participates in every major art event in Houston, to spread her vision of creating opportunities and a future in art for aspiring artists of color.