Los Lobos and Cheech Marin headline street festival to kick off "Chicano" in San Diego

"Chicano" opened in June in San Diego to the sounds of mariachis, Los Lobos, Culture Clash, dancing and celebration, kicking off a three-month concurrent showing at museums in downtown San Diego and La Jolla.

Chicano, an unprecedented art exhibition, presented by Target Stores and Mervyn's, sponsored by Hewlett-Packard Company and produced by Clear Channel Exhibitions, made its first visit to the Golden State at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) in San Diego, Calif., on May 30, 2004. Chicano is a five-year, 15-city national tour that is collectively made up of two major exhibits: Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge, a traditional art exhibit, and Chicano Now: American Expressions, an interactive multimedia exhibit for families. Chicano will remain on display at MCASD through September 12, 2004.

The celebration involved blocking off city streets in downtown San Diego surrounding the MCASD, where street performances by cultural dance troupes, family crafts, dance lessons and muralists created the backdrop for the exhibit's opening celebration.

Chicano first opened in November 2001 at the San Antonio Museum of Art in San Antonio and has traveled throughout the United States, making stops at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque and the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis.

"We're extremely pleased to be the first Southern California museum to host Chicano," said Dr. Hugh M. Davies, the David C. Copley director of MCASD. "This is a first-class collection of works that speaks eloquently to a cultural movement rich in tradition and heritage. An exhibition of this magnitude takes on special significance in the San Diego/Tijuana region we call home. Cheech Marin's uncompromising vision, and generous partnerships with companies such as Target and Mervyn's have helped make this vibrant exhibition a reality at MCASD."