MFA Graduate Student, Armando de la Torre, Selected for SOMA Summer 2026 in Mexico City Art, Student Spotlight

The UNM CFA Dean’s Office and Department of Art are pleased to announce that Armando de la Torre has been awarded the UNM SOMA Summer Travel Grant.

This grant is awarded to a UNM graduate student to attend SOMA Summer 2026 @somamexico, a 4-week program in Mexico City. The $4,000 USD grant, plus an award by SOMA ($800 USD) is applied to the cost of attending the SOMA Summer program. Congratulations to fen!!

As a Fronterizo artist, they use alternative materials to tell stories that are entwined with place, borders, and identities, offering possible new worlds. Born in Tijuana and raised in San Diego by a single mother, their lived experience informs an artistic practice grounded in the complexities of the U.S. Mexico border region.

At the age of 23, they joined the military and served with the 82nd Airborne Division, completing two overseas duties in Germany and Korea. They attended Santa Monica Community College, where they earned an Associate’s degree in Art. Later they graduated from San Diego State University with a degree from the Multimedia Art Department. Now, Armando is pursuing an MFA in Art and Ecology, where they also teach Art Practices I.

They have been performing and teaching puppetry through the San Diego Guild of Puppetry for 10 years. They also have a long history of making art in the San Diego–Tijuana region, with exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the San Diego Museum of Art, ICA San Diego, Bread & Salt, Centro Cultural de la Raza, and The FRONT Cultural Center in San Ysidro. They leverage their exhibitions by supporting marginalized communities through a teaching practice.