THE COHORT

We are excited to welcome the first ever LAMP cohort artists from Indianapolis area!

  • Alejandra Carrillo is a Chicana artist based in Indianapolis that depicts the stories of the Mexican-American experience in the Midwest. With a foundation in printmaking and art education from IUPUI, she delves into themes of decolonization, displacement, and activism in her art. Carrillo's work stands as a bridge between the rich heritage of her Mexican roots and the contemporary struggles and triumphs of Chicanos, all while fostering a strong sense of community within her culture.

    Her pieces have been exhibited in both local settings, such as the Indianapolis Art Garden, and on a broader stage, notably receiving the first-place award in the 2023 El Paso Print Pachanga juried show. Through her public installations, print vending, and collaborations with local schools, she actively empowers young Latin individuals, creating a pathway for them to excel in the arts.



  • Cisneros is a self taught American photographer born in South Carolina to Mexican immigrant parents. Her family later relocated to Indianapolis, IN and that is where her photography career started. She first became interested in photography when she took a class back in high school due to seeing photography as an instant form of artwork. Daniela Cardenas - Cisneros is inspired by her Mexican American heritage and photographers such as Graciela Iturbide, Joyce Tenneson and Linda McCartney. She currently works out of her home where she edits and frames her work and one day hopes to join a photo studio. She is currently an art student at Ivy Tech community college and plans to later on attend the Herron School of Art to obtain a Bachelors in Art History and a minor in photography. Her first art shows were at her school where her photography was awarded honorable mention in both shows she participated in; besides being an art student Daniela Cardenas - Cisneros is also an Art museum employee. It is at her museum job that she works to bring art to her local community and this job is where she was given the opportunity to display her work in the staff art show making it her third and current art show.

  • Frances is a Puerto Rican artist who has lived in Indiana for about twenty years. After years of creating art solely for recreation and spiritual retreat, she decided to focus on her art and become a full-time collage artist in 2020. She mixes acrylics with paper creating her own patterns and colors on paper to engage the viewer in a unique artistic visual representation experience. Her background, Taino, African and European, provide the perfect culturally diverse expression for her paintings. Her upbringing in Puerto Rico and personal life experiences are the basis for her inspiration. She strives to reflect her love for music, dance, nature, and the Caribbean using bold organic colors and lines in her compositions to provide movement and provoke a feeling. Her goal is to bring joy and positive emotions through her paintings.


  • Born in Tampa, Florida, I, Hector Del Campo received my MFA in 2004 at the University of South Florida in Tampa and BFA at the Herron School of Art & Design in Indiana. A first-generation Cuban-American, I have exhibited extensively and taught across the country. My work is found in numerous private and corporate collections in the United States. I have been faculty at Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, Indiana for over eleven years.

    In my early years of art making, I’ve used my memories and familia to reflect those ideas about mis abuelos y abuelas. My earlier works layered the stories, so a narrative was created to have a reflection. As I progressed in art making I continue to use my memories of growing up as an influence in my art as well as my current events in my life. This has allowed me to keep expressing who I am but also what inspires me every day. I feel like growth in art making is a reflection of personal progress and you can see that expressed in my work.


  • Jazlyn Gomez is a mixed media artist based in Indianapolis. As a Chicana artist, her biggest muse is Sultepec, Estado de Mexico; her parents hometown and birthplace. Not only this, but her art heavily incorporates her struggle of growing up in a predominantly white community and constantly having to code switch throughout her life. Experiencing the clash of cultures from living in the United States and visiting her family in Mexico cemented a foundation in her artwork. Jazlyn graduated from the University of Indianapolis in 2022; majoring in Communication and minoring in Franco-Germanic studies. During her time there, she held the titles of Graphics Assistant and eventually Art Director for the university’s newspaper, The Reflector. In this position, Jazlyn was given multiple awards by the Indiana Collegiate Press Association for several of her editorial cartoons.


  • Karla Guerrero Moctezuma is a Mexican-American mixed media artist and educator. She was born in 1998 in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. In 2001 her parents immigrated to Columbus, Indiana where they raised her two older brothers and sister. She won the Lily scholarship award in 2016 for no Bartholomew County after dedicating time to organize with the community as a leader and advocate for other DREAMers. Karla is a Dacamented and first generation scholar who attended Depauw University in 2020 where she majored in Education studies and minored in Anthropology and Studio art. Her artwork has been published as the cover art for the book “Obstetric Violence” edited by Angela N. Castaneda, Nicole Hill and Julie Johnson Searcy. As a DREAMer, her work focuses on searching for ways to belong.


  • Atzel Nuñez is a self-taught artist born in Mexicali and raised in Indianapolis. His love for art and graphic novels began in fifth grade when he received a book for free during a scholastic event. Nuñez is inspired by the works of Eric Power and Fukumoto Nobuyuki, whose stories deal with the characters' actions to better their surroundings while dealing with their own problems. He strives to improve his work by joining art communities, entering competitions, and talking to fellow artists in his field. In 2021, he won an award for an illustration he did for the Youth Journalism International. His future goals include getting nominated for an Eisner award, completing the Latino Artist Mentorship Program, and creating his comic. He believes in telling stories that entertain and inspire people while leaving a positive impact on their lives.

  • Dayra Flores-Velez is a Mexico-Puerto Rican American artist who grew up in Indiana and was raised by her Mexican family. She relocated to Florida at the age of 4 and began to explore the arts and visuals in her life, eventually becoming a visual artist. She began to paint the visions in her dreams and developed a fascination with sketching eyes and realized that no matter where she went, there was always something that symbolized or reminded her of eyeballs, whether in the natural world or in the sky. She believes that every gaze in the human eye communicates a distinctive message about a person, through the way we can see and feel emotion by looking through a person's eyes. Dayra is now a junior at Plainfield High School and has been taking part in art classes and has discovered new art techniques to help with her artistic direction. She seeks to explore new mediums to express herself and her artistic thoughts through different methods and points of view and hopes her work will energize people´s spirits. Her artwork has been presented in an exhibition at the Arts Garden in downtown Indianapolis. Dayra hopes to be showcased in other venues to highlight her distinctive culture and garner the appreciation of viewers for the value of Latin Art and Culture.

  • Elias Garza Garcia (Mexican, b. 1993) is an Indianapolis-based artist. He grew up on the US/Mexico border in Tamaulipas. At the age of eight, he and his family immigrated to the United States, where he has lived in Indiana since. In middle school, he learned relief printmaking and fell in love with the simplicity and immediate satisfaction of the medium. Garza has also worked in theater creating costumes and sets for community and school theater.

    Garza holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from Herron School of Art and Design and a Museum Studies Certificate from the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. After graduating college, he worked as curatorial assistant at the Eiteljorg Museum supporting the museum’s efforts to highlight underrepresented histories and artists of intersectional and diasporic backgrounds. He currently serves as the Gallery Manager of the Herron Galleries at Herron School of Art and Design.

  • Gaby Mojica is a latina artist with Mexican roots based in Indianapolis. She acquired her associates degree in Fine Arts and opened her art business in 2018 . Inspired by the power in art, she now creates unique stories with acrylic paint by adding an activist illusion to reality. Her newest work utilizes origami figures that represent a respect for traditional origami art while symbolizing the fragility and beauty of life. Gaby Mojica consistently participates in art exhibitions around Indianapolis including: Gallery 924, The Harrison Center, The Indianapolis Zoo and more. Motivated to challenge her artistic ability with every painting, Mojica focuses on different ways to magnetize viewers to communicate with her paintings so they can understand a different perspective. Mojica offers a variety of art prints, framed earrings of her works, and acrylic paintings on her website and social media.


  • Jonathan Angulo was born in Izúcar De Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico on December 17, 1988. Immigrated to Los Ángeles, then New York, and now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. Jonathan has always had an interest in the arts since childhood, being exposed to graffiti and other forms of art. He graduated from Herron School of Art and Design. Jonthan works with a mix of mediums, mainly oil paints and spray enamel. Jonathan has been influenced greatly by his Mexican heritage, most notably death and the celebration of Dia de Muertos. He admires the idea of death not being a somber occurrence but rather, a stage of life that is celebrated. Additionally, Jonathan is inspired by cultures he admires. Meeting people and cultures along with his own cultural background influences provide him with a rich set of references and imagery that he uses to create his work. Experiences of meeting people and learning about different cultures have provided him with new perspectives and insights that he can incorporate into his art. He has shown his work in the group show titled “Herencia” at Two-Thirds Studio and Big Car’s Service Center. Jonathan has also worked on murals in indianapolis. Jonathan is currently building up his portfolio of work while participating in local art shows, events, and exhibitions to gain exposure. Jonathan plans on starting an artist co-op to build a supportive community of artists and creatives to work together to share resources, collaborate on projects, and support each other's work.

  • Leyda Melgar is Salvadoran-American artist and educator in Indianapolis. She is the first born in her generation of her family, which resulted in a lifetime of learning and teaching others. Becoming involved in her family’s Mexican Panadería, she was able to communicate with others about their cultures and traditions. Being Salvadoreños, her family gained an appreciation of new traditions and old ones.

    Leyda has consistently throughout her lifetime had an interest in the arts but became heavily involved in the arts after her experiences with the performing arts. She started with drawing and painting but transitioned into sculpture and mixed-media after finding interest in the possibilities of what could be made. Sculpture and mixed-media allowed for the exploration of themes relating to her personal themes such as her mental health, themes of assimilation, and personality. For Leyda, sculpture is a way for her to express thoughts that cannot be put into words through exploration of materials.

    She attended Herron School of Art and Design in which she graduated with a Bachelors of Art Education in 2022. Becoming a teacher, Leyda wanted to keep her artistic roots and continue to grow as an artist in the Indianapolis community. She has recently become a part of the Latino Artist Mentorship Program in Indianapolis. Currently, Leyda is exploring textiles and how they can be used to tell stories and aims to learn new art forms. As an educator, she feels it is important to consistently educate ourselves on new forms of expression and what we are capable of learning from others. She currently works as a high school digital art teacher.

  • Rosaura Cazares Juan was born in Veracruz, Mexico and has lived in the city of Indianapolis since she was 10 months old. Her work is inspired by the connected nature surrounding the neighborhood where she grew up. Growing up on the Westside of Indy exposed her to numerous encounters of her Latinidad from supermarkets like Guanajuato to the Mañanitas a La Virgen at her church. Furthermore, numerous individuals she once created a connection with have shaped the person she is and has become. This is communicated in her work. Bits and pieces of Rosaura are expressed in the various elements of art, many of them representing her emotions and her Mexicanaidad. Her Latino community drives her day after day and inspires Rosaura as she navigates through adversity as a Latina in Indiana. At a young age Rosaura was raised to learn her indigenous language and her cultura through the food, music and traditions from her parents. But most importantly they raised her in a religious (Catholic) practice which is a great part of Rosaura’s life and works of art.She is currently pursuing her Bachelors of art in education at Marian University.


  • Edgar Garcia is a self taught artist based in Frankfort Indiana. He was raised by two indigenous parents, who each come from two uniquely different cultures. Though he was raised in the farmlands of Indiana, with the cornfields and the cows, he was born with the passion to create, explore, and expose the world around him. The idea of being an artist was never something he thought of but it was always around him. His father would play the guitar, and he remembers his mother would spend all her days outside making traditional hand woven placemats and bracelets. She created them with different colors and patterns, and not two were alike. She never planned ahead but it always turned out beautifully because it came from the heart. His doodles and sketches became more just ink on paper, but ideas that were real and made more sense than words on paper. That initially sparked a small flame in him to pursue his passion as an artist all throughout grade school.

    Edgar inevitably ended up enrolling at Herron School of art to pursue a career as a graphic designer, but realized after a year that life behind a computer screen was not the life he visualized as an artist. He continued his education the following year at Ivy Tech, while at the same time, he began to commission paintings of his work and became heavily focused on his apparel for the artwork he was creating. At the end of his year at Ivy tech, he decided to leave school to pursue his true passion as an artist and has since continued to grow his audience and his brand in his own town and expanding beyond to cities like Indianapolis to attend events and display his work for others to see.

    His first event, at the 2022 Hispanic Heritage Event in Frankfort, opened new doors for him to pursue different opportunities to learn and grow. He has since met and worked with different artists and organizers at different events, who’ve helped create new goals as an artist. He has dedicated himself to grow as a muralist in his own city and also learn how to expand his business on creating clothing apparel for his brand and artwork. He currently has his eyes set on a future exhibition at the Newfields Museum in Indianapolis with the hope of sharing a piece of his life experiences. With the help of the organization, LAMP, he hopes to take advantage of the advice and opportunities to grow as an artist and to learn from others as well. He eventually plans to give back what he has learned to new and upcoming artist who will face the struggles he did growing up and the questions he had as a young artist. He realizes that knowledge is power and his art comes from the soul, so he aims to share his artistic passion to anyone willing to learn and grow.

  • Jackelin Espinosa Moyotl was born in Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico in 2000. She immigrated with her family to the United States in 2003, where she grew up in Fishers, Indiana. Jackelin received A BFA in Printmaking and a Minor in Art history from Herron School of Art and Design in 2022. Aside from being a printmaking artist, she loves papermaking, book arts, and is a workaholic. Jackelin has shown her work in multiple exhibitions such as New Editions: A printmaking Exhibition and Identidad, Dreams y Marchas! During her undergraduate studies she was nominated for the Top 100 Students of IUPUI and the winner of Spirit of Philanthropy. Jackelin will be an MFA candidate at the University of Madison Wisconsin in the fall of 2023, where she will receive an MA and an MFA. She will be an artist assistant to Faisal Abdu’Allah and a Teaching Assistant. Jackelin will be published in the Mid American Print Council Journal Volume 36: Liminal- Positions, Possibilities & Pathways. She will continue to be part of LAMP in Indiana. Jackelin hopes to work at Tandem Press during her MFA. Jackelin hopes to pursue a career in academia teaching printmaking classes. Aside from teaching she hopes to continue an artist practice and exhibit. She will continue to be an active member of Mid American Print Council and Southern Graphics Council International.

  • Judith Flores is a self-taught Mexican-American digital artist from Phoenix Arizona that relocated to Indianapolis Indiana in 2012. She graduated from IUPUI in 2021 with a B.A. in Philanthropic Studies but throughout her whole college career she experienced a lack of purpose. She always tried to suppress the creative part of herself but nonetheless gravitated towards artistic classes and outlets to explore her creative interests. It wasn’t until her last semester in college when she ran a fundraiser as part of a student organization where she created hispanic themed stickers to sell, that she truly committed to pursue her passion of art and digital creation.

    She is currently running her small business called Just Vibin’ Stickers on etsy and also doing freelance work on the side. As of April 2023, she is part of the first cohort of Latino artists in the Latino Artist Mentorship Program, or LAMP, which is a guided course designed to help Latino break into Indy’s art scene with a professional presence. By the end of this program she will have exhibited her artwork at the Indianapolis Museum of Art along with the rest of her cohort, having gained valuable experience and important connections. 

    In the future she hopes to continue to expand her small business on top of becoming a self-sufficient artist with an established website and varied client portfolio. She wants to continue her education in graphic design and learn how to use various Adobe softwares to advance her skill set which will launch her to new heights in her artistic career. 



  • Miriam Santos Leon was born in Mexicali, Mexico Baja California daughter of two Mexican immigrants. Miriam was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana from the age of three, where from an early age Miriam displayed interest in the arts as a kindergartener. Miriam continued as a traditional artist until her Senior year in high school when she took a graphic design class. Currently Miriam Santos attends Marian University as a first generation Latina, majoring in graphic design along with a double minor in business and Spanish. In her freshman year at Marian University Miriam was selected by Cal Cullen to be part of Marian’s 2022 student juried show where three of her artworks were exhibited ranging from paper collage, charcoal, and sharpie as mediums. As of now, Miriam is focused on shooting individual, senior, and family portraits as well as website and logo designs after class and during the weekends. In the future Miriam aspires to work for a magazine combining her photography, typography, and design skills. Miriam also aspires to design album covers for music artists and wants to eventually begin her own magazine where integrates her own photography and her writing that is a latina women magazine. In the future Miiriam also wants to open her own design firm where she is able to work with photography, website design, logo design, and album design.