How Cheech grew a Chicano art renaissance

Marin's Riverside museum is becoming a hub for nurturing talent and growth.

- BY DANIEL EDUARDO HERNANDEZ

TWO VISITORS look around the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture, nicknamed “the Cheech.” The museum is entering is fourth year.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

In 2022, the iconic L.A. comedian Cheech Marin opened an art museum with the hope of inspiring a Chicano art renaissance.

"I looked around and said, 'This could be the next big art town' - because the foundations were already there," Marin said. "There was this kind of nebulous underground here, but [they'll] reach officialdom when they have their museum."

Now, as the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture enters its fourth year, Marin said he believes his goal is slowly coming true. Known colloquially as the Cheech, the museum is widely considered the only space in the nation that exclusively showcases Chicano art. It's located in Riverside, a majority-Latino city that is also within one of the largest Latino-populated counties in the country.

Since its grand opening on June 17, 2022, the center has housed hundreds of works of art from Marin's vast private collection, including from prominent artists such as Wayne Alaniz Healy, Judithe Hernández and Frank Romero.

In its first two years, the space attracted over 200,000 visitors, according to an independent study commissioned by the city, with about 90% of attendees coming from outside the Inland Empire. The study also found that the Cheech brought around $29 million into the city's local economy in that time frame.

IN ADDITION to showcasing works of art by Chicano artists, founder Cheech Marin also wants his museum to be a hub and vital resource for local Chicano artists.