Mexikota Art

Visual Art – San Diego

Hector Villegas is a first generation Xicano from Barrio Logan in San Diego, California. His mother is from Estancia De Los Lopez, Nayarit, Mexico, and his father is from San Felipe De Hijar, Jalisco, Mexico. Villegas’ art journey began as an apprentice in 2011 during the restoration of the acclaimed National Historic Landmark, Chicano Park. He worked on six murals alongside artists such as Victor Ochoa, Guillermo Rosette, Salvador Torres, Armando Nuñez, Felipe Adame, and Mario Chacon. From this experience he painted three of his own murals in Chicano Park and had his first gallery solo show in 2014. Hector has exhibited at multiple local galleries and museums in San Diego including San Diego Museum of Art “ Local Latin American Masters” (2018). He’s also shown at other spaces such as the Gregorio Escalante Gallery from (Los Angeles) in collaboration with La Bodega Gallery in (San Diego), Los Four Meets Los 40 (2017), California Center for the Arts Escondido, Re-membering Our Ancestors: Discovering Ourselves (2015), Center for Visual Art Metropolitan State University of Denver, In lak'ech, San Diego to Denver: You Are My Other Self (2014), Currently, Hector is a fine artist, muralist, and middle school art teacher at King-Chavez Preparatory Academy. He is also an active member of the Chicano Park Steering Committee, Barrio Logan Planning Group, Barrio Logan Association, and the forthcoming, Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Hector is blessed as the father of two beautiful girls, Cuicani Quetzal and Yollotli Huitzilac, who inspire him daily.