New adjunct-lecturer Armando Minjarez, who won a $100,000 grant for an art project called “Horizontes,” will continue to make the work he loves while teaching Community Arts Engagement at Wichita State.

“Wichita has provided an arena to experiment and work at the intersection of art and social justice, and activism,” Minjarez said.

Minjarez was approached to teach the class after receiving the Knight Foundation Grant, so his students will also be involved in the project.

“I hope the students are able to understand, organize and lead small and large scale projects, understand layers and network to produce art projects,” Minjarez said.

A native of Mexico, Minjarez said he decided to get into fine arts because, as an undocumented immigrant in the United States, he was unable to attend architecture school.

“I grew up in a very artistic household around just general awareness of music, literature and fine arts,” Minjarez said. “My hometown has a lot of emphasis in cultural events.”

After leaving Parral, Chihuahua in Mexico, Minjarez went to Kansas State where he received a degree in ceramics.

Before coming to Wichita, Minjarez made his home in Ulysses, Kansas. He became accustomed to the new environment of the plains and fell in love with western Kansas.

“[Moving] was rough — the language barrier and small community of mostly farmers,” Minjarez said. “I do enjoy going back to Ulysses to drive across the plains.”

Minjarez said that after completing “Horizontes,” he plans to move back to Mexico.

Minjarez said he hope to make the most of his time in Wichita while helping students broaden their experiences in the field of art.

“It’s an opportunity for me to have a group of people interested in engaging in the projects I am working on, and local budding artists, to carry the torch.”