Leyda Melgar
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.
