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Culture in Riverside, California, have just been published, showcasing the Page & Turnbull-led transformation from an outdated New Formalist public library building into an important home for Chicano art.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

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 mid-century building’s original character in the face of much-needed upgrades to its interior spaces and mechanical systems.

Its lobby opens into a public courtyard modeled on the popular Latin American Zócalo form and is flanked by two new decorative entry screens designed to invoke a group of doves in flight. The existing drop ceilings were removed to “[reveal] the building’s historic character, structure, and expansive volumes,” while other small touches were left exposed or else uncovered to further ensure the continuance of the modernist design. 

Other prominent aspects of the $14.5 million project include the retention of its characteristic plaster dome ceiling and ball lighting fixtures, in addition to window frames and stainless steel doors which came along with the original 1964 structure. The design team says outfitting the space caused a 40% improvement in operating efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by some 14,062 metric tons. 

“You can’t love or hate Chicano art unless you see it, so my goal is to get as many as I can to see it,” the museum’s namesake said in a recent preview. Information about The Cheech’s new slate of exhibitions and public programs can be found here.