The Cheech

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, known simply as The Cheech, stands in downtown Riverside as a landmark institution dedicated to the richness and complexity of Chicana/o/x artistic expression. Its origins trace back to the remarkable response to Papel Chicano Dos at the Riverside Art Museum in 2017, an exhibition drawn from Cheech Marin’s renowned collection. The overwhelming public enthusiasm sparked a visionary public-private partnership between the City of Riverside, RAM, and Marin, resulting in the creation of a permanent home for one of the most significant collections of Chicano art in the world.

Opened in 2022 within a renovated mid-century building that once served as Riverside’s main public library, The Cheech encompasses more than 60,000 square feet of gallery, educational, and community space. The center houses hundreds of works spanning painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and video, reflecting decades of artistic production rooted in the Chicano Movement and its ongoing cultural legacy. Artists represented include influential figures whose work has shaped the visual language of Chicano art across generations.

Photography holds a vital place within The Cheech’s program and collection. The photographic works on view capture personal histories, community activism, urban landscapes, and evolving identities, underscoring the medium’s power as both documentation and artistic expression. From images that chronicle the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and 1970s to contemporary explorations of hybridity and border culture, photography at The Cheech reveals the lived realities and creative resilience of Chicana/o/x communities. These works are presented not as supplementary material, but as central components of the broader narrative of cultural affirmation and social commentary.

Beyond exhibitions, The Cheech fosters scholarship, dialogue, and education through lectures, workshops, and community partnerships. By foregrounding photography alongside other media, the center affirms the importance of visual storytelling in shaping collective memory and cultural identity. As the first institution of its kind devoted entirely to Chicano art, The Cheech stands as both a celebration of artistic achievement and a living platform for continued exploration and exchange.