Rodrigo Lara Zendejas

Rodrigo Lara Zendejas is an Assistant Professor and Area Head of the Ceramics Department at the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters, within the Department of Art, Art History, and Design. He holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2013) and a BFA (Summa Cum Laude) from the Universidad de Guanajuato (2003). His work focuses on sculpture, ceramics, installation, and performance, exploring themes like memorialization, ancestral heritage, and social practice. He has exhibited widely in institutions such as the Museo de Arte Moderno (Mexico), the National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), and Test Site Projects (Las Vegas).

Key awards include the First Prize in Sculpture at Mexico’s Premio Nacional de las Artes Visuales (2010), the Emerging Artist Grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation (2016), and an O-1 Visa for Extraordinary Abilities. He has held residencies at MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, and Cerámica Suro. Lara’s publications include the monograph Memorials (2020) and catalogues like Mascaras y Artefactos (2010). His teaching spans institutions such as Hyde Park Art Center and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, emphasizing sculpture techniques and community engagement.