The Chicano Collection / La Colección Chicana Project

Managed and Co-Produced by CauseConnect

The Chicano Collection / La Colección Chicana is a landmark collaboration between actor and art advocate Cheech Marin and master printer Richard S. Duardo of Modern Multiples, resulting in a limited-edition portfolio celebrating the vibrancy and depth of Chicano art. CauseConnect managed and co-produced the project, which included every aspect of production, fundraising, and touring.

This ambitious initiative produced 115 portfolio sets of archival-quality pigment prints featuring works by 26 artists from the Cheech Marin Collection. Each image depicts urban life and the Chicano experience between 1969 and 2001, printed at 40 x 30 inches and housed in a custom clamshell case with silkscreened cover art by Chaz Bojórquez.

Project Highlights

• 26 giclée prints of iconic Chicano artworks
• 26 linocut portraits by Artemio Rodríguez, featuring each artist, as well as Cheech Marin, Richard Duardo, and Rodríguez himself
• A DVD of the 53-minute documentary The Chicano Collection, directed by Tamara Hernandez and co-produced by Melissa Richardson Banks and Heather Flores
• A scholarly essay by Chon A. Noriega, Ph.D., Director of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center
• 50 portfolio sets donated to major museums across the U.S. and Europe to increase access to and recognition of Chicano art

CauseConnect’s Role

• Project management and production oversight
• Produced documentary film
• Curatorial coordination and artist relations
• Strategic fundraising
• Public relations, marketing, and donor engagement
• Touring exhibition management

Traveling Exhibitions

CauseConnect also organized a touring exhibition of one complete set of the 26 limited-edition giclées, accompanied by the 26 linocut portraits.

To date, The Chicano Collection / La Colección Chicana has been exhibited at 12 museums and cultural centers across the United States. California venues include Riverside Metropolitan Museum; Plaza de la Raza in Los Angeles; La Raza Galería Posada in Sacramento; CSUN Art Galleries in Northridge; Arte Américas in Fresno; Downtown Center for the Arts in Oxnard; Pico House Gallery at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument; The MUZEO in Anaheim; Riverside Art Museum; and Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana. Other U.S. venues include the InfoZone News Museum at Pueblo City-County Library in Colorado.

Other portfolio recipients have also displayed the prints on their own, including the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico; El Paso Museum of Art, Texas; and Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Arizona.

BOOK THE EXHIBIT: To inquire, email Melissa Richardson Banks.