First Friday Reception | June 5, 5–8 pm
Around the Bend is SBMA’s biennial celebration of the vibrant visual arts communities of Michiana. This open-call exhibition showcases the creative talent and diversity of the arts in our region. Approximately 240 artists from eight Michiana counties will participate this year. Artworks are displayed salon style (floor to ceiling) in the Warner Gallery, our largest exhibition space.
The First Friday Reception on June 5 from 5 to 8 pm will be a chance to celebrate with artists and the public, and will include music, refreshments, remarks, and opportunities to vote for community choice awards.
The piece Site Reconnaissance, 2026 will be exhibited in Around The Bend Biennial from May 23 to August 23, 2026.
SBMA Event: https://southbendart.org/around-the-bend-2026/
Diderot.Art — Artist Profile and Works
Diderot.Art maintains an artist profile and online archive of my work, bringing together biographical information, exhibitions, publications, collections, and individual artworks from different periods of my practice. The platform describes my work through sculpture, installation, and drawing, with recurring references to geometry, biology, technology, symbols, and questions of perception. The archive includes projects such as Terrarium, El Mapa no es el Territorio, Columna de Mercurio, Mi Cajita, Crater Crown, Rising, and several ceramic works from the Jardín and Discos series. It also records exhibitions and projects including Tótem, Uso y Mención, Trámite, Salón ACME, and Entre-ríos, making it one of the more extensive external online records of my work.
Diderot.Art Artist Profile: https://www.diderot.art/es/artistas/alejandro-mejia-andrade/
Saatchi Art — Artist Profile, 2026
In 2026, I created an artist profile on Saatchi Art as another public platform for documenting and presenting my work internationally. The profile brings together an artist statement, education, exhibition history, and a selection of individual works, including sculpture and installation projects developed during my MFA research. Among the works currently documented is Solarium (2025), presented through photographs and technical information alongside a description of its development through body-based proportions, geometric construction, steel, and wood. The profile extends the online archive of my practice beyond institutional exhibitions and gallery platforms, making selected works and information about my recent research accessible to a wider international audience interested in contemporary sculpture, installation, ceramics, and interdisciplinary practice.
SAATCHI Artist Profile: https://www.saatchiart.com/en-mx/alejandromejiaandrade
Graduate Student Research Award — Franco Family Institute, 2026 & 2025
In 2026 and 2025, I received a Graduate Student Research Award from the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good at the University of Notre Dame. The GSRA program supports graduate research and creative projects by providing funding for materials and other direct research expenses. My award supported the continued development of my studio research within the Department of Art, Art History & Design, particularly experiments connecting sound, movement, mechanical systems, and ceramic forms. The project became an important part of my MFA research, allowing me to test ideas through fabrication and sustained material experimentation while developing a group of works that investigate how information moves between bodies, objects, images, and sound.
Related projects: Sismograma Vertical Loom Spectral Blur Solarium Mercurio
Franco Family Institute publication: https://franco.nd.edu/news/franco-institute-provides-over-150-grants-to-arts-letters-students-for-spring-2026-semester/
The stately gallery in Bond Hall was alive with activity during Solarium26, an annual fine arts show and signature event hosted each year by the Graduate School.
Held on March 4, 2026, Solarium26 showcased the work of talented University of Notre Dame master of fine arts (MFA) students, whose visual pieces were paired with written responses by English MFA students.
Alejandro Mejía Andrade was honored with the Best of Show Award for his striking wall-mounted sculptural piece titled "The Map Is Not the Territory."
Full article by Traci DuVal: https://graduateschool.nd.edu/news/celebrating-art-and-creativity-at-solarium26/
Alejandro Mejía Andrade was honored with the Best of Show Award for his striking wall-mounted sculptural piece titled "The Map Is Not the Territory."
Full article by Traci DuVal: https://graduateschool.nd.edu/news/celebrating-art-and-creativity-at-solarium26/
El coraje de trabajar con lo posible, 2025
In June 2025, FronteraD published an extended interview with me by writer Carlos Alejandro Noyola titled El coraje de trabajar con lo posible. The conversation looks at different stages of my practice, from early influences and formative experiences in Mexico to my return to graduate school at the University of Notre Dame. We discuss sculpture, installation, landscape, perception, artistic education, migration, family, and the role of material limitations in shaping creative decisions. A recurring idea throughout the interview is the importance of working from the conditions and resources available at a given moment, and of allowing those limits to become part of the work rather than obstacles to it.
Full interview: https://www.fronterad.com/el-coraje-de-trabajar-con-lo-posible-conversacion-con-alejandro-mejia-andrade/
MFA Walkthroughs — University of Notre Dame, 2025
In March 2025, I participated in the University of Notre Dame’s MFA Walkthroughs, an annual open-studio event organized by the Department of Art, Art History & Design. The event brought together graduate students from the different areas of Studio Art and Design and opened their workspaces and installations to the public. As a first-year MFA student in Ceramics, I presented my work in Riley Hall alongside fellow graduate students in painting, photography, visual communication design, and other disciplines. The 2025 walkthrough also included a lecture and studio visits by artist Rudy Shepherd, Professor of Art at Wake Forest University, providing an opportunity for discussion, critique, and exchange around the work developed during the academic year.
Event: https://events.nd.edu/events/2025/03/20/mfa-walkthroughs-department-day/
In March 2025, I participated in the University of Notre Dame’s MFA Walkthroughs, an annual open-studio event organized by the Department of Art, Art History & Design. The event brought together graduate students from the different areas of Studio Art and Design and opened their workspaces and installations to the public. As a first-year MFA student in Ceramics, I presented my work in Riley Hall alongside fellow graduate students in painting, photography, visual communication design, and other disciplines. The 2025 walkthrough also included a lecture and studio visits by artist Rudy Shepherd, Professor of Art at Wake Forest University, providing an opportunity for discussion, critique, and exchange around the work developed during the academic year.
Event: https://events.nd.edu/events/2025/03/20/mfa-walkthroughs-department-day/
Artist of the Month
November, 2025.
Alejandro Mejía Andrade. Mexico City, 1981. Visual artist graduated from the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving “La Esmeralda” (Mexico City). Currently pursuing an MFA in Ceramics at the University of Notre Dame, IN. Specialized in sculpture, installation, and drawing, his work has been featured in exhibitions across Mexico and the US, as well as in private and state collections.
Northern Indiana Clay Alliance Profile: https://www.indianaclay.org/members/alejandro-mejia-andrade/
Michiana Pottery Tour — 2025
In 2025, I participated as a guest artist in the Michiana Pottery Tour, a regional event connecting ceramic artists across northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. I exhibited at the South Bend location hosted by ceramic artist Norah Ruth Amstutz, alongside several invited artists. Founded in 2012, the annual two-day tour has grown to include more than fifty participating artists across multiple studios and locations, with the goal of highlighting Michiana as an active center for contemporary ceramics. My participation came during my MFA studies at the University of Notre Dame and offered an opportunity to connect my ceramic practice with a broader regional community of makers, collectors, students, and visitors outside the university environment.
MPT Page: https://michianapotterytour.com/
In 2025, I participated as a guest artist in the Michiana Pottery Tour, a regional event connecting ceramic artists across northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan. I exhibited at the South Bend location hosted by ceramic artist Norah Ruth Amstutz, alongside several invited artists. Founded in 2012, the annual two-day tour has grown to include more than fifty participating artists across multiple studios and locations, with the goal of highlighting Michiana as an active center for contemporary ceramics. My participation came during my MFA studies at the University of Notre Dame and offered an opportunity to connect my ceramic practice with a broader regional community of makers, collectors, students, and visitors outside the university environment.
MPT Page: https://michianapotterytour.com/
New Faces was an exhibition of work by first-year MFA students in Studio Art and Design at the University of Notre Dame. Presented at the AAHD Gallery in Riley Hall from December 5, 2024 through January 10, 2025, the exhibition brought together work by Sara Abdolmotallebi, Emma Brooks, Grace Gao, Claire Murphy, and myself. It was my first group exhibition at Notre Dame after beginning the MFA program in fall 2024, and offered an initial introduction of our practices to the university community. The exhibition marked the beginning of a new stage in my work, as I started developing projects within the resources, conversations, and interdisciplinary environment of the Department of Art, Art History & Design.
Event: https://frc.nd.edu/events/2024/12/20/aahd-gallery-exhibition-new-faces/