A new life-size statue honoring actor and Chicano art collector Cheech Marin was unveiled on Tuesday, November 19, outside his namesake arts and culture center in Riverside, California.
The bronze statue, titled “Meet Me at The Cheech,” in honor of the nickname for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Arts and Culture, depicts Marin with open arms in a gesture of warm welcome to visitors. Located across from the center, which opened in June 2022 as part of a partnership with the Riverside Art Museum, it is home to Marin’s personal art collection, claimed to be the largest known private treasure of Chicano art.
“Meet Me at The Cheech” was created by East Los Angeles artist Ignacio Gómez, whose work is also focused on Chicano culture and community for decades.
Gomez said Hyperallergic that he based the work on drawn sketches and photographs he took of Marin, adding that he was “very honored” to be commissioned for the project after growing up watching Marin’s films.
“I have been a fan of Cheech for a long time and a few of my works are in the museum,” the artist said.
Originally from the predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Gómez has also created other works, including murals and monuments honoring Latin figures like union leader Cesar Chavezwho founded the United Farm Workers of America, and civil rights activists Felicitas and Gonzalo Méndezwhose historical case Mendez v. Westminster led to desegregation reforms in public schools and other spaces in California. A screen print of Gómez’s poster for Luis Valdez’s 1978 play Zoot suit is held in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and in 2004 he designed and sculpted a life-size bronze statue of Chavez leading 10 farm workers in front of the activist’s namesake monument in San Fernando, California.
According to the Riverside Art Museum’s website, the artwork was conceived and supported by the former chairman of the board Ofelia Valdez-Yeagerwho died on January 7, making the statue “her final and lasting contribution to the community she loved.”
At the unveiling, attended by approximately 200 Riverside community members, friends and family, Marin said, “This sculpture is a reflection not only of my work, but of the incredible power of Chicano art to tell stories, to tell stories from to challenge and bring us together.”
“Riverside has become a home for this art, and I am so humbled to be a part of this journey,” Marin added.
