Later this month, Cheech Marin’s brand-new Chicano art gallery will receive the Riverside Hero Award. The actor, comedian, and art collector will accept the award at the Riverside Convention Center on Thursday, Jan. 26, during the mayor’s State of the City address.
The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum, which opened in June in the former downtown library building, will receive the honour from the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce.
This cultural centre, which has the greatest collection of Chicano art in the country, will bring new customers to hotels, eateries, and stores all across Riverside, according to a chamber news release. “Over the next ten years, Riverside is likely to profit economically by $300 million as a result of the anticipated flood of additional visitors to The Cheech,” according to the assessment.
According to the press release, the Riverside Hero Award is given to a team or person that has “significantly contributed to promote the community at the state and/or national level” during the course of the previous year.
At the ceremony, where Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson will deliver her first state of the city address in person, Marin will be given the honour. The work’s title will be “Riverside By Design.”