Alexa Natalia Wheeler

Education / Degrees

• 2004 University of New Mexico [UNM] – Albuquerque, NM – MFA Studio Art - highest distinction
• 2000 Tamarind Institute of Lithography – Albuquerque, NM – Tamarind Master Printer
• 1998 Pratt Institute – Brooklyn, NY – BFA - highest honors: Printmaking, minor: Art History

Biography

Alexa Wheeler is a Principal Lecturer III in Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico–Valencia Campus, where she has taught since 2008. She has served in a range of leadership roles, including Program Coordinator for Film & Digital Media, Fine Arts Coordinator, and Division Chair. Her teaching focuses on printmaking, digital media, and interdisciplinary studio practices, often emphasizing accessibility, collaboration, and community engagement.

A Master Printer trained at the Tamarind Institute, she holds an MFA with Highest Distinction from the University of New Mexico and a BFA with Highest Honors from Pratt Institute. She has worked as a collaborative printer at studios across the U.S. and Europe, including Flatbed Press, Pyramid Atlantic, and PaperPress in Germany. Her studio practice integrates traditional printmaking with new technologies to explore themes of domesticity, labor, care, and transformation.

In 2025, she received a Fulcrum Fund grant, a program of 516 ARTS made possible by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, to launch ToastLab—a community-centered project that uses a variety of art media to explore and honor the histories of “women’s work.” The initiative includes public workshops, an online storytelling platform, and a series of participatory art installations aimed at fostering empathy, visibility, and healing—not only for survivors of childhood abuse, but also for women and individuals who often feel unheard or believe their stories aren’t important. ToastLab affirms that these stories matter.

Selected Publications

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

Hold On, Professional Gallery, University of New Mexico - Valencia Campus [2024]
SlipInto Steps, Professional Gallery, University of New Mexico - Valencia Campus [2013]
Urban StemStory, UNM Valencia Library [2011]
Retrospective, The Flying Star Downtown and Satellite on Harvard galleries, ABQ, NM [2008]
Still Domesticity (hooked to stitches), collaborative installation w/ Danielle Ferreira, Bivouac ArtSpace, NM, juried [2005]
pull hook stripe transactions, The Albuquerque Press Club, ABQ, NM, juried [2005]
Story Stomp – Tiny Toy, Camera Graphic Gallery, ABQ, NM, juried [2004]
Toys Taxi Attack – My Bug Day, The Harwood Art Center, North and South Front Galleries, ABQ, NM, juried [2004]
Three Words for the New Millennium, Gallerie Muy Muy Tan Tan, ABQ, NM [1999]
Unterhosen, Steuben Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY [1997]
Reflections- HIStory, High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX [1992]

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Annual Faculty Show, Professional Gallery, University of New Mexico Valencia [current]
Albuquerque Now: Winter, The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, invitational [2009]
The Faculty Show, Professional Gallery, University of New Mexico Valencia [2009]
The Cowboy Show, Professional Gallery, University of New Mexico Valencia [2008]
Faculty Exhibition, Masley Art Gallery, University of New Mexico, Art Education Program [2007]
Small is More, selected artists represented by the Harwood Art Center, ABQ, NM [2006]
Biennial Southwest, video installation, Albuquerque Museum of Fine Art, NM, juried [2006]
Snap to Grid, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Caleb [2006]
7th Annual Collage and Mixed Media International Juried Online Art Exhibition, Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE [2005]
Flat Out Spectacular: Work out of the Flat Files, Donkey Gallery, ABQ, NM – represented artist [2005]
Spot the Dog, Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska, juried [2005]
Exposing Injustice and Revealing Beauty, Maryland Federation of Art-Baltimore, Juror: Eli Reed, photojournalist [2004]
Albuquerque Contemporary 2004, The Albuquerque Museum, NM, Juror: Gronk [2004]
Annual Juried Graduate Exhibition, Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico, ABQ, NM [2003]
Incoming, Jonson Gallery, University of New Mexico, ABQ, NM [2002]
Small Works Show, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, invitational [2002]
acutance, The Harwood Art Center, ABQ, NM, juried [2002]
Maryland Printmakers, Washington County Arts Council Gallery, Hagerstown, Maryland, juried [2000]
New Prints 2000, International Print Center of New York City, Master Printer of lithos - Tony Evanko/Jonathan Seliger [2000]
Prints and Printmakers from the University of New Mexico & Tamarind Institute, University of Grenada, Spain [2000]
Stepping Stones: Prints from the Tamarind Collaborative Workshop, Sala Negra, Santiago, Chile, juried [1999]
Off-Register, Prints from Tamarind, Ralph Greene Gallery, ABQ, NM [1999]
Invitational, Gallery, University of New Mexico, Gallup, NM [1998]
Summer Invitational Exhibition, Schaeffler Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY [1996]
ArtMonger today, Catal Huyuk Gallery, Houston, TX [1993]

COLLECTIONS

Donkey Gallery, ABQ, NM
University of New Mexico, Law Library, 24 prints
Ray and Barbara Graham, ABQ, NM – video installation, private collection
KPMG LLP. Law & Consulting firm, Washington D.C., private collection
Canson-Tallens Paper manufacturer, private collection

Professional Organizations

Women’s Caucus for Art, New Mexico Chapter, Houston, TX Chapter, [2005-current]
Coalition of Women Artists, member [2005-current]
Jewish Women in the Arts (JWAN), [2005-current]
Feminist Art Caucus for Educational Diversity (FACED), [2005-current]
College Art Association, [2004-current]
Association of Career Technical Education, [2010-current]
New Mexico Association of Career Technical Education, [2010-current], board member [2017-2019]
Online Learning Consortium [2015-2022]
International Game Developer’s Association, Game Education Special Interest Group, [2011-2013]
International Game Developer’s Association, Women in Games Special Interest Group, [2011-2013]
Indie Q, Albuquerque Independent Film Community, [2010-2012]
International Digital Media Arts Association, iDMAa, [2010-2011]
New Mexico Adobe Users Group (nmaug), [2008-2018]
National Association of Women Artists, national and Florida Chapter, member [2005-2012]