By Mary Alice Murphy

The members of the Silver City Arts and Cultural District Coordinating Council meet monthly to share information and sometimes feature special guests and reports. On Thursday, June 9, they heard two reports.

Bob Wilson, in the first report, showed a rendering of proposed improvements to the Visitor Center parking lot, adding some greenery and more defined parking places.

Lucy Whitmarsh, Silver City MainStreet Project manager, said some changes had been requested for the area before it goes into construction.

The next speakers were from the Plata Studio, an effort merging students from Woodbury University's Architecture School and from the University of New Mexico School of Architecture, using facilities at Western New Mexico University. This is the second year the students have spent in Silver City. Tim Castillo, who grew up in Grant County and went on to become an associate professor of architecture at UNM wanted to give back to the community that raised him, so he came up with the idea to help Silver City make some improvements, and asked his students to help and asked Woodbury students to join in the project.

Alex Rodriguez of Woodbury University said the group was in town just this week. "We got a lot of information last year. This year we wanted to take some more film footage. We are combining the students of film, photography and architecture to build a beneficial plan for Silver City and Grant County."

Humbert Lopez, a student in the UNM School of Architecture, said it was exciting to be back. "We grouped up with film students and fabricators from the two schools. We are focused on coming up with solutions for what we want to offer for education, people and the community. We are working with Western New Mexico University. We call the project, 'Create You,' to have a makers' lab for film-making, music-making and whatever ideas the community comes up with. We would like to use a food truck, with a makers' lab inside."

"It would be a mobile platform for the community to engage in," Lopez said. "We want to make it engaging to the public. Because it will be mobile, it can plant anywhere in the city or county." He showed fabrications of the Chino Mine made out of 50 layers on a 3-D printer.

Rodriguez said the idea of Create You came because of the art community in Silver City. "You have a lot of makers and tinkerers."

Kel Cruz, studying film at UNM, said the group was not in Silver City to impose anything on anyone.

"Our proposition is the makers' lab," Rodriguez said. "We want to introduce the new lab and let people try it out. We want to teach teachers to hold workshops for kids. There are plenty more options."

Because it would be a mobile platform for fabrication, the plan is to introduce to people 3-D printing and laser cutters, and how people can put them to work.

"We envision a partnership with the schools to set up a hub for workshops, for doing internships, say a teacher who can then teach her students," Rodriguez continued.

He said film with a culinary aspect is another option.

"What we would be offering is the mobile platform going to schools and other places," Lopez said.

Rodriguez showed a short video that the students made in one day.

"Kids can do this stuff," Cruz said.

Amber Rheubottom of the Clay Festival asked if the resources would be left in the community.

"We are in the middle of that," Rodriguez said. "We would love to have a permanent hub but we need funding."

Cruz said the idea was a combination of a permanent space and the mobile platform.

Lopez said the group had looked at the building at Arizona and BroadwayG