On the corner of 8th Street and Greenfield Avenue in Milwaukee, a home has stood for more than 100 years. It has served as everything from a family residence to a livery stable. Now, after being vacant for four years, the building is being transformed into an event space to promote the arts and community relationships.
WUWM’s Eric Von Fellow Maria Peralta-Arellano takes us to the venue, called Villa Arco.
On a recent Friday morning, CK Ledesma, the new owner of Villa Arco, welcomed guests to an event called “Creative Mornings.”
“Hi everybody. Hi! I'm going to take a second to appreciate everyone's face and essence for a second if possible. It’s really emotional to be up here right now. As they mentioned previously this is a new endeavor for me ... You are standing in Villa Arco," Ledesma says.
For Ledesma, everything is an endeavor, and one of their latest is the restoration of their new home and business, Villa Arco, located at 804 W. Greenfield Ave. on Milwaukee’s south side.
Built in 1890, the building has served many purposes—as housing, a daycare, offices for community organizations, and, for a large part of its history, a funeral home. It sat vacant for four years until Ledesma bought it in 2024 and transformed it into a space to support and promote the arts.
Ledesma is an artist in Milwaukee and has held fellowships and residencies across the city, including at the Cesar Chavez Drive Business Improvement District and the Mitchell Street branch of the Milwaukee Public Library.
As an artist, Ledesma wanted to create a space for artists and community organizations to gather, launch galleries and experiment with their creativity.
“I understand that the biggest hurdle to being able to develop anything you have in the process of an idea or concept—the biggest hurdle is space, usually. And if we have the space, why not have it accessible for folks to use as a jumping point or an experimental space? We really want it to cater to folks who have gone through similar experiences to us," Ledesma says.
Villa Arco will include two areas, the main floor, where events and gatherings can be held, and a downstairs space that will be a hub for artists and their galleries.
Ledesma wants to use proceeds from events at Villa Arco to give back to the community.
“If you do contribute to our space, hosting an event with us — a portion of those proceeds will go back towards hands of folks who are wanting to develop and create things here for their own professional practice, for their livelihoods, for their careers, for their families, for the neighborhood, for the community,” Ledesma says.
Villa Arco has already hosted DACA renewal workshops, model casting calls for Casita Prado, a local children's wear designer, and, most recently, Creative Mornings, a lecture series focused on community-driven initiatives.
Positioning their new home as a community space has shaped how Ledesma views ownership of the house.
“I don’t feel like I am the sole owner of this space. I want to be a steward of this space, but I want to be a steward of this space with other folks, I want to be a steward of this with our gente," Ledesma explains. "With other people that want to be active in the arts, people that want to create, that want to develop programming here and give it a life of its own.”
For Villa Arco and Ledesma, this is only the beginning of the community building they hope to foster in this historic home.
