A brand new life-sized statue celebrating actor and Chicano artwork collector Cheech Marin was unveiled on Tuesday, November 19, outdoors his namesake arts and tradition heart in Riverside, California.
Entitled “Meet Me at The Cheech” in honor of the nickname for the Cheech Marin Heart for Chicano Artwork and Tradition, the bronze sculpture depicts Marin with open arms in a gesture of heat welcome to guests. It’s located in entrance of the middle, which opened in June 2022 as a part of a partnership with the Riverside Artwork Museum and is residence to Marin’s private artwork assortment, claimed to be the biggest identified personal trove of Chicano artwork.
“Meet Me at The Cheech” was created by East Los Angeles artist Ignacio Gómez, whose work has centered on Chicano tradition and group for many years.
Gómez informed Hyperallergic that he primarily based the work on drawn sketches and pictures he took of Marin, including that he was “deeply honored” to be commissioned for the mission, having grown up watching Marin’s films.
“I’ve been a fan of Cheech for the longest time and a few of my works are in the museum,” the artist mentioned.
The statue was unveiled in a personal dedication ceremony earlier this week on the Cheech Marin Heart for Chicano Artwork and Tradition in Riverside.
Initially from predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Gómez has additionally created different works together with murals and monuments honoring Latine figures like labor chief Cesar Chavez, who based the United Farm Employees of America, and civil rights activists Felicitas and Gonzalo Méndez, whose landmark case Mendez v. Westminster led to desegregation reform in public faculties and different areas throughout California. A screenprint of Gómez’s poster for Luis Valdez’s 1978 play Zoot Swimsuit is held within the assortment on the Smithsonian American Artwork Museum, and in 2004, he designed and sculpted a life-size bronze statue of Chavez main 10 farmworkers for the activist’s namesake memorial in San Fernando, California.
In keeping with the Riverside Artwork Museum’s web site, the art work was conceptualized and supported by former board president Ofelia Valdez-Yeager, who handed away on January 7, making the sculpture “her final and lasting contribution to the community she loved.”
On the unveiling, attended by round 200 Riverside group members, pals, and household, Marin mentioned, “This statue is not just a reflection of my work, but of the incredible power of Chicano art to tell stories, challenge narratives, and bring us together.”
“Riverside has become a home for this art, and I am so humbled to be part of this journey,” Marin added.
Ignacio Gómez primarily based the work on drawn sketches and posed images he took of Cheech Marin.
Mariachi band members play on the Cheech Marin Heart for Chicano Artwork and Tradition, which is residence to Marin’s private assortment of Chicano artwork.
