A new life-sized statue celebrating actor and Chicano art collector Cheech Marin was unveiled on Tuesday, November 19, outside his namesake arts and culture center in Riverside, California.
Entitled “Meet Me at The Cheech” in honor of the nickname for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture, the bronze sculpture depicts Marin with open arms in a gesture of warm welcome to visitors. It is situated in front of the center, which opened in June 2022 as part of a partnership with the Riverside Art Museum and is home to Marin’s personal art collection, claimed to be the largest known private trove of Chicano art.
“Meet Me at The Cheech” was created by East Los Angeles artist Ignacio Gómez, whose work has centered on Chicano culture and community for decades.
Gómez told Hyperallergic that he based the work on drawn sketches and photographs he took of Marin, adding that he was “deeply honored” to be commissioned for the project, having grown up watching Marin’s movies.
“I’ve been a fan of Cheech for the longest time and a few of my works are in the museum,” the artist said.
Originally from predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood of Boyle Heights, Gómez has also created other works including murals and monuments honoring Latine figures like labor leader Cesar Chavez, who founded the United Farm Workers of America, and civil rights activists Felicitas and Gonzalo Méndez, whose landmark case Mendez v. Westminster led to desegregation reform in public schools and other spaces across California. A screenprint of Gómez’s poster for Luis Valdez’s 1978 play Zoot Suit is held in the collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and in 2004, he designed and sculpted a life-size bronze statue of Chavez leading 10 farmworkers for the activist’s namesake memorial in San Fernando, California.
According to the Riverside Art Museum’s website, the artwork was conceptualized and supported by former board president Ofelia Valdez-Yeager, who passed away on January 7, making the sculpture “her final and lasting contribution to the community she loved.”
At the unveiling, attended by around 200 Riverside community members, friends, and family, Marin said, “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.
