'The Cheech' Center for Chicano Art & Culture is finally open. Take a look inside.

2022-07-22T09:00:00-04:00

New photos of the recently-opened Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, have just been published, showcasing the Page & Turnbull-led transformation from an outdated New Formalist public library building into an important home for Chicano art.

Named for actor and noted Chicano art collector Cheech Marin, the new museum building is an expansion of the 55-year-old Riverside Art Museum (RAM) meant as a showcase for the community’s myriad and significant contributions to the arts as seen through the works of painter Frank Romero and many others.

Photo courtesy Riverside Art Museum

The 61,420-square-foot building opened in June following a conversion effort that began last spring. In order to execute its adaptive reuse and design, Page & Turnbull turned to cultural sector specialists WHY (which had previously helped out on the firm’s conversion of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco) to ensure the preservation of the ...

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture breaks ground in Southern California

2021-04-14T13:58:00-04:00

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, California, has broken ground and will open in spring next year. [...] A public-private partnership between the Riverside Art Museum, the City of Riverside, and comedian Cheech Marin—one of the world’s foremost collectors of Chicano art—the center will be, as Marin says, the "center of Chicano art, not only painting, but sculpture, photography, and video arts."

Interior rendering of The Cheech, view from the entrance.

Nicknamed "The Cheech," the new art and culture center will find a home inside the transformed former public library building in Riverside, California. The adaptive-reuse conversion of this 1964 mid-century building is designed by Los Angeles-based architects Page & Turnbull in collaboration with museum designer WHY.

Actor and comedian Cheech Marin batting a celebratory piñata at the groundbreaking ceremony this week.

"The semi-circular entry steps draw the visitor towards the building, and the open 'front porch' podium will feature large-scale sculptures to be rotated according to new programming and exhibitions," explains the project description. "The building’s entry lobby is envisaged as a zócalo or open town square, a central gathering space that will connect the four main galleries and offer amenities such as a gift shop and, eventually, a cafe."

The Cheech is expected to open in spring 2022.

The Cheech opens Spring 2022!...

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'The Cheech' Center for Chicano Art & Culture is finally open. Take a look inside.

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture breaks ground in Southern California