Oral history interview with Cheech Marin
name: label: Interviewee
content: Marin, Cheech
label: Interviewer
content: Franco, Josh T. (1985-)
label: Names
content: Art Collectors: A Project in Partnership with the Center for the History of Collecting in America at The Frick Collection
topic: label: Topic
content: Art -- Collectors and collecting -- California -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Actors -- California -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Authors -- California -- Interviews
label: Topic
content: Motion picture producers and directors -- California -- Interviews
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
creator: label: Interviewee
content: Marin, Cheech
label: Interviewer
content: Franco, Josh T. (1985-)
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Cheech Marin (1946- ) is an actor, writer, director, and art collector in Pacific Palisades, California.
label: Biographical / Historical
content: Josh T. Franco (1985- ) is the National Collector, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 7 Items (sound files (3 hr., 27 min.) Audio, digital, wav)
label: Extent
content: 141 Pages (Transcript)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2017 October 16-17
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.marin17
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pages
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Interviews
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: An interview with Cheech Marin conducted 2017 October 17-18, by Josh T. Franco, for the Archives of American Art and the Center for the History of Collecting in America at the Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection, at Marin's home, in Pacific Palisades, California.
label: Scope and Contents
content: Mr. Marin discusses growing up as a young Chicano in South Central Los Angeles and Granada Hills, California, and his early exposure to the liturgical art of the Catholic Church; his family's use of altars in their homes; his cousins and their independent studies as schoolchildren and his particular focus on art history and classical music; the discouragement by a teacher at at young age to pursue doing art work himself; his early collections of sports memorabilia and ephemera; his wife Natasha Rubin, the pianist, and his former wife Patti Heid, the painter, and his children; his initial interests in Chicano art and the beginnings of his art collecting in this field; the concept of rasquache, especially how it applies to Chicano art; the paintings of Carlos Almaraz; his time working with clay and pottery in college, and as an assistant to the ceramist Ed Drahanchuk. Mr. Marin also describes the work being done to create The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture and Industry in Riverside, California; the importance of the early centers around the country for Chicano art, including Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Texas; his work in film and television; his comedy partner Tommy Chong's interest in New Guinea art; his lecture tours about Chicano art; his assistant Melissa Richardson Banks; the organization of the touring exhibition Chicano Visions [2001-2007]; the potential of Riverside, California as a new mecca for art; the club scene in Hollywood, California in the '70s; his time living in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania and his exposure to the equestrian world; and the salons he and his wife Natasha have conducted in their home as a way to create interaction between Chicano artists and classical musicians. Mr. Marin also recalls Vincent Valdez; Steve Martin; Paul Thiebaud; George Yepes; Robert Berman; Alice Walton; Adán Hernández; Sonya Fe, as well as Stacy King; Belkis Ayón; John Russo; and Luis and Daniel Valdez, among others.