Riverside is set to receive a new art space in a mid-century setting, it will be, as Cheech says, the “center of Chicano art, not only painting, but sculpture, photography, and video arts.” Opening in 2020, The Cheech explores Chicano culture from the barrio to the Bay, cholos to Cesar Chavez, pre-Columbian to modern murals. The project has already received state and community support but is still taking donations to help make this gift to the public happen.
THE CHEECH MARIN CENTER FOR CHICANO ART, CULTURE & INDUSTRY OF THE RIVERSIDE ART MUSEUM
The center will be housed next door to the historic Mission Inn in a 61,420-square-foot facility, which was originally opened to the public as the Riverside Public Library in 1964. The Cheech is a perfect adaptive reuse of this mid-century building and the historic and vintage aspects will be preserved in its transformation from a library to a museum and cultural center.
The Cheech Marin Collection is comprised of mostly paintings, followed by drawings, prints, and mixed-media artworks, then sculptures and photography. One of RAM’s long-term goals is to supplement and expand the collection with Chicano artists not currently in the Cheech Marin Collection through acquisitions and donations from artists and their estates, art collectors and dealers, and institutions
In addition to artwork loans to numerous institutions, Cheech’s Chicano art collection has been featured in over a dozen exhibitions produced and shown at more than 50 museums in the U.S. and Europe, including the Smithsonian, LACMA, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
The list of Chicano artists in Cheech’s collection currently numbers more than 70. Artists include Carlos Almaraz, Chaz Bojórquez, Pablo Andres Cristi, Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Gaspar Enríquez, Margaret García, CiCi Segura González, Raul Guerrero, Gronk, Wayne Alaniz Healy, Adán Hernández, Leo Limón, Gilbert “Magu” Luján, César A. Martínez, Frank Romero, Ricardo Ruiz, Eloy Torrez, John Valadez, Patssi Valdez, Jaime “Germs” Zacarias, and Vincent Valdez.
- 15,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space for The Cheech collection
- A museum store
- A museum eatery
UPPER LEVEL
- 8,000 square feet of temporary exhibition space
- Additional spaces for programs, lectures, and multi-media projects
- Riverside Art Museum Administrative Offices
LOWER LEVEL
- An Academic Resource Center
- 6,000 square feet for our educational initiatives, quadrupling RAM’s current area
- 8,000 square feet of expanded and improved collection storage
As artists we couldn’t be more excited to hear that this new art space will be coming to Riverside. It’s nice to see that Chicano art will now have a place of celebration in Southern California. Let the countdown to 2020 begin!
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