Applications now open for the Latino Artist Mentorship Program

LAMP informational meeting at the Indiana State Museum with Daniel Del Real at the podium

On Saturday, Feb.11 the Latino Artist Mentorship Program (LAMP) held an informational meeting at the Indiana State Museum about the services the program will provide.

Applications for the program are “open to all visual artists of Latina/o/x/e heritage living and working in Central Indiana” through Feb. 25, according to the promotional text for the meeting.

Organizers Eduardo Luna and Daniel Del Real, who’ve been promoting artists in Central Indiana for the last decade, introduced the program to the artists, arts professionals, and journalists gathered in the museum conference room. 

 “I was lucky enough to meet Daniel and ever since we have worked together since I met him,” Eduardo Luna said from the podium. “We talked about working together with music and with art. We created an [organization] called Nopal Cultural. And then a couple of years ago, we decided to start an organization called Arte Mexicano en Indiana.”  

Both organizations, which have worked to facilitate the annual Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration at the Eiteljorg Museum, are spearheading LAMP.

In addition to his arts promotion activities, Luna is a staff artist with Big Car Collaborative.  Del Real, also an artist in his own right, is the curator for the International Marketplace Coalition. His soft “No Seas Concha” sculptures are on display at the Global Village Welcome Center near Lafayette Square Mall, and in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. (While shaped like a traditional Mexican sweetbread roll, each “Concha” is large enough to use as a bean bag chair.)  

Del Real, who was born in Tijuana, Mexico and raised in Los Angeles—before coming to Indianapolis at age 13—explained the rationale for LAMP. 

“During my career, I've always been interested in helping other artists,” he said. “I'm not one of those artists who thinks someone's success is somehow a hindrance to me. “I always want to push everybody to do their best. So this is why I decided to put together this program.”

Del Real has seen many Latino artists not being able to get attention from the media and/or attention from galleries.

“We're going to find out what those hindrances are for you,” Del Real said. “We'll take you through the program and hopefully at the end, you'll be a new, brighter, more successful version of yourself.” 

Del Real then described the details of the program. Twenty artists will be accepted in the first cohort, which will meet three times in different venues throughout the Indianapolis area. In the first phase, in March 2023, they will meet with the LAMP organizers on a one-on-one basis to identify their challenges and needs. Phase 2 will be the training and mentoring phase, assisting the artists in a workshop format as they prepare the artists for exhibitions and events.    

“One of the workshops will be guiding everybody to write a biography for themselves,” Del Real said.

In Phase 3, in the last quarter of 2023, the cohort will display its work in a group exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields—one of LAMP’s sponsors—and attend a reception to promote their work. The program is supported by a grant from Glick Philanthropies.

Before taking questions, Del Real detailed the requirements of the application, which will be judged by a panel of professionals including Luna and Del Real.

“We're keeping it very simple,” he said. “We ask that everybody submit their three strongest works of art and send those to us in three image files, a list of exhibitions that you've participated in, and a brief letter introducing yourself describing your work and explaining why or how you can benefit from the program.”

Artists who wish to apply can email Marisa Zambrano at culturecreator22@gmail.com.