Lopez Castillo, Martin

Martin Lopez-Castillo was born in the small town of La Perla, Cuautitlán Izcalli in the State of Mexico. He grew up in a large Catholic family and was taught the meaning of hard work from a young age. Competitive by nature, he excelled in academics and always understood the importance of receiving an education. He left his hometown, immigrating to Phoenix, Arizona, and finally reached Colorado, where he worked as a cook for a Village Inn.

As a lover of travel and adventure, he would often visit Las Vegas—home to his wife’s family—but never imagined living there himself. Then in 2002, he moved his family from Colorado to Las Vegas, where he worked as a miner and landscaper. His determination for producing work that he is proud of has led to the creation of beautiful landscapes, including the garden at a house he owned downtown which appeared in a film after catching the attention of a filmmaker.

Constantly learning, he is a self-taught English speaker with an affinity for cycling, tennis and chess. Over the years he has expanded his collection of chess boards and constantly finds parallels between the chess board and real life. He has a daughter who is an engineer and a daughter who is an architect from his first marriage.

Martin’s daughter, Elsa Lopez, is an elementary school teacher for Clark County. She served as a project assistant on the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada oral history project.