Creative Minds: Artist Bobbi “BJ” Lesperance returns with “Then Again” at Ink Underground

After decades of creating murals, paintings and community art across Socorro County, Bobbi “BJ” Lesperance is stepping back into the spotlight. Her new exhibition, “Then Again,” is opening Sunday, March 1, at Ink Underground, the downtown tattoo studio and gallery owned by her sister, JJ Lesperance.

Ink Underground is located at 124 A Manzanares Street and BJ’s show will be from 7 pm to 9 pm on March 1. Entry is free to all. Bobbi can be reached for commissions at 575-322-0397. 

The show brings together both new work and pieces from earlier chapters of Lesperance’s career, a deliberate choice, she said, to honor the long, winding path that shaped her as an artist.

“It’s a lot of older stuff,” she said. “So, I wanted to call the show ‘Then Again’, because it’s really about where I started and where I’ve come back to.”

Lesperance traces her earliest artistic memory to preschool, when she won a Christmas tree drawing contest. But her creative life took a defining turn years later, after a severe back injury left her unable to work for nearly a year. During that difficult stretch, her then-wife brought home canvases and paints, a gesture that reignited a passion Lesperance had nearly set aside.

“One door closed and another one opened,” she said. “Art pulled me out of a really dark place.”

Her return to painting quickly gained momentum. She won a Day of the Dead art contest in Magdalena, brought home 13 blue ribbons at the Socorro County Fair, and later earned design awards for the Rio Grande Film Festival and the Air Mountain Fly‑In. She eventually served 13 years as Superintendent of Fine Arts for the county fair, mentoring young artists and visiting local schools to encourage students to submit their work.

Lesperance’s work is visible across Socorro County and beyond. She painted the large mural inside the Socorro Walmart, a collage of local landmarks, culture and history, after winning a statewide design contest. She has completed murals in Albuquerque, including a piece which features a colored phoenix for Evolve Fitness that has become a symbol of inclusion at the gym for the LGBTQ+ community.

Her commissions range from memorial pieces and hand-painted sports balls for local seniors to tribal‑design artwork created with permission from Navajo and Pueblo families. She has also shown work at New Mexico Tech’s Macey Center, where she once served as assistant director and helped manage the gallery program.

Her art has traveled farther than she ever expected. Pieces from a Tech exhibition sold to collectors in California and France.

“I can say my art is in a private collection internationally,” said Lesperance, with a laugh.

She credits her parents, Carolyn and Bobby Lesperance, for instilling a sense of service and community. Her mother was a long-time nurse in Socorro, and her father was widely known and loved in the area.

She also points to early artistic influences: Peter Max, Michelangelo, and family friend Fernando Mercado, a California artist who once gifted her a set of professional markers when she was a child, some of which she still has.

Local artists have shaped her journey as well, such as the late Margie Lucerna, and Natasha Isenhour, Skeeter Leard and Sharon Fullingham encouraged her to keep creating.

Today, Lesperance works as assistant manager for Blue Raven Transport, a demanding job that often keeps her on call. Her time for art has shifted into evenings, weekends and vacation days, but it remains constant.

“I would love to pursue my art full‑time someday,” she said. “But for now, I’m grateful for every chance I get to create.”

Her upcoming show at Ink Underground marks her first major exhibition in years, and she hopes it will reconnect her with longtime supporters while introducing her work to new audiences.

“It feels good to get back into it,” she said. “Life gets busy, but art has always been there waiting for me.”