Let’s take this opportunity to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month by checking out ‘The Cheech’ Chicano Art Museum! Address: 35581 Mission Inn Ave, Riverside, CA 92501
The first-ever Chicano Art Museum is now open! For those of you who don’t know what Chicano art is: “a vibrant visual movement that emerged from the civil rights and feminist struggles in the 1960s and 1970s.” Source: Wikipedia, read more about Chicano Art history here.
Located in the old Riverside Public Library, “The Cheech” is part of the larger Riverside Art Museum. It’s HUGE! The 61,420-square-foot space is home to actor/writer/collector Cheech Marin’s extensive Chicano Art Collection, which includes over 700 works from artists all across the United States.
Riverside’s continued emphasis on history, art, and culture, in addition to the large Latino population in the area, and the city’s close proximity to five universities made it an ideal location for this new art museum. Two nearby universities, the University of California, Riverside, and California State University, San Bernardino, already offer Chicana/o Studies programs. This museum provides opportunities for the research and study of Chicana/o art and culture.
Works include paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints, mixed media, photography, installations… The Cheech has it all!
Artists include Ana Teresa Fernández, Vincent Valdez, and Benito Huerta… and many, many more!