The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture

This former mid-century library has been reimagined and renovated into the Cheech Marin Museum for Chicano Art, Culture and Industry. The 60,000 s.f. building, part of the Riverside Art Museum, houses Cheech’s collection of Chicano Arts – one of the largest such collections in the world – and serves as a new community and cultural center for Chicano people and the region.

Page & Turnbull served as architect of record and preservation architect. The project, completed in June 2022, started in 2018 when P&T completed a conditions assessment, program development, and a feasibility study.

The project carefully integrates new structural, MEP, lighting, and security systems capable of serving a world-class museum into a historic building that is open and welcoming. A highlight of the design includes a 27’ x 38’ cut-out in the floor plate to create a double-volume space that serves as lobby, gathering and exhibition space featuring a massive lenticular artwork by the Del La Torre Brothers. Key design features, such as historic light fixtures and the original grand staircase – built of stainless-steel rods and translucent polyester panels – were fully restored.