Downtown artist, business owner vows to help her community – Silver City Daily Press

By Marcela Johnson
Daily Press Inter
Artist and business owner Lydia Villegas says she’s found new jobs and ways to connect with her community through her shop — and learned a lot about the women who make up Silver City in the process.
Villegas operates LV Studio, a business on Bullard Street where she displays her mosaic work, painted jackets and other found and repurposed items.
In the year
“I started making mosaics,” she said. “I’ve always made art, but this kind of calls me and it’s crazy to go around places and see how much trash we have.”
Villegas said she originally started the business for her mother and her so they could do it together before the pandemic hit. She said that when creating her works, she focuses on cutting all the pieces by hand, reusing old tiles without using a machine.
“I try to give everything a second life,” she said. “As you can see, we live in a thrown world.”
Villegas said she watches the world from her shop window, and tries to find ways to fix the problems she sees. From these observations, Villegas decided to found a group called Girl Fight.
The goal is to nurture the community and create the safest possible spaces. The group’s motto is “See Something, Do Something” and their symbol is a pink fist.
“We see things happen, and everyone walks away memorable,” Villegas said. “I understand we’re confused about some things, but you still have to do something about it.”
According to Villegas, the group provides services such as buying blankets for homeless people in Silver City, providing water bowls for animals and transporting medicine to help treat overdose emergencies.
Many downtown businesses display the organization’s logo in their front windows to show that their store is a safe place and part of a community that cares for each other.
LV Studio’s collection refers to stickers and fighting like a girl, which Villegas gives freely to find interest in her interests. Villegas said she passed out pink fist stickers at Silver High School and Western New Mexico University.
“If I was at home, I’d be in front of the TV watching all the chaos, and it’s out of control,” she said. “What can you do? Nothing—it will make you sad and anxious, and give you nothing. But to me, doing something is better than doing nothing.”
Villegas said the outbreak has hit businesses around her like Ama Guadalupe, and low footfall in the city has hurt them even more.
“I took over from my predecessor in early March 2020, and I was open for four days, so my first year, basically my social security paid my rent because I didn’t have any work,” said Martha Blacklock, owner of Amma Guadalupe.
According to Villegas, women own about 70 percent of the businesses in the city, and most of the owners have other jobs to maintain their stores, which affects how long the businesses can stay open. She said downtown merchants work hard to support each other.
“Walk downtown,” she said. “See what you get. It’s a treasure – people from other states love it here, and they really do. It’s a little hidden gem. I want more of our community to support us when there are no tourists.
Villegas’ work is now on display alongside works by Catherine Acosta Russo in this year’s Arte Chicano exhibit at the Silver City Museum. She said that this is her first time participating in this kind of exhibition.
Arte Chicano has been an annual exhibit at the Silver City Museum since 2016, and exhibit founder and downtown business owner Diana Ingalls Leyba selected both of the featured artists for 2022.