The Riverside Art Museum (RAM) announced the departure of María Esther Fernández, inaugural Artistic Director of The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture of the Riverside Art Museum (The Cheech), as part of an organizational restructuring.
During her four years at The Cheech, Fernández directed exhibitions and programs that amplified the intellectual power, cultural vitality, and essential contributions of Chicana/o/x art and community. She supported emerging and established curators of shows in the Altura Credit Union Community Gallery and advanced nationally touring exhibitions, including Xican-a.o.x Body, Yolanda M. López: Women’s Work is Never Done, and the critically acclaimed Amalia Mesa-Bains: Archaeology of Memory, which she co-curated. Fernández also co-curated the first Cheech Collects exhibition, which Hyperallergic named one of the “Top 50 Art Exhibitions of 2022,” and organized its three subsequent iterations. Among her most celebrated projects was a long-overdue retrospective of Judithe Hernández’s work.
Fernández supported The Cheech through her community building with artists locally and nationally, and her decades-long expertise in reimagining Chicana/o/x artistic representation in museums. She has been recognized for her curatorial vision and artistic leadership, including being named by the Los Angeles Times as a “Power Player” in its ongoing LA Vanguardia series.
I thank Esther for her commitment to The Cheech and look forward to seeing her future contributions to the field through her continuing curatorial practice. — Cheech Marin, Founding Donor, The Cheech
Esther helped put The Cheech on the map, demonstrating the potential of the museum. Her dedication supported the museum’s profile as a powerful platform for Chicana/o/x art and artists. — Patricia Reynolds, Board President, Riverside Art Museum
I wish the Riverside Art Museum the best as it enters this new chapter. I am proud of my work supporting The Cheech since its opening, and of what we created to showcase the power and vitality of Chicana/o/x art and culture. — María Esther Fernández, inaugural Artistic Director, The Cheech
