{"id":2002,"date":"2023-12-11T12:06:34","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T04:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2023-12-11T12:06:34","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T04:06:34","slug":"amazon-cuts-ties-with-riversides-cheech-museum-after-show-with-work-critical-of-the-tech-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/amazon-cuts-ties-with-riversides-cheech-museum-after-show-with-work-critical-of-the-tech-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Cuts Ties with Riverside\u2019s Cheech Museum After Show with Work Critical of the Tech Company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon<\/a>\u00a0has reportedly ended its financial support for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, after the institution included an artwork that the company deemed critical of its business strategy in Southern California\u2019s Inland Empire.<\/p>\n

The news was first reported earlier this week by the\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/em>. Just days after the article was published, Jeff Bezos, Amazon\u2019s founder and executive chairman, who has recently become a high-profile collector, was\u00a0spotted at Art Basel Miami Beach<\/a>, one of the country\u2019s leading art fairs.<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s decision to cut ties with the Cheech was revealed in a leaked document laying out several of the company\u2019s business and PR strategies for 2024. It was\u00a0posted to X\u00a0(formerly Twitter) by Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, the chief officer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO and a former California State assemblyperson.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0L.A. Times\u00a0<\/em>was able to independently verify the authenticity of the document, and an Amazon spokesperson did not dispute its veracity to the paper.<\/p>\n

Amazon spokesperson Jennifer Flagg told\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>\u00a0that the\u00a0L.A. Times<\/em>\u00a0article was a \u201cblatant mischaracterization of Amazon\u2019s work,\u00a0and in fact, Amazon is proud to be engaged philanthropically in communities across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

The document reads, \u201cWe will not continue to support organizations that did not result in measurable positive impact in our brand and reputation. Additionally, we will not fund organizations that have positioned themselves antagonistically toward our interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

It cites the Cheech as one example because a 2023 exhibition, titled \u201cLife Logistics,\u201d included triptych of screenprints by Toni Sanchez, a student at the University of California, Riverside studying political science. The three prints show an Amazon warehouse with flames beneath it; surrounding the warehouse are block letters reading \u201cBURN THEM ALL DOWN.\u201d<\/p>\n

In\u00a0an email<\/a>\u00a0to the Inland Empire\u2013based newspaper the\u00a0Press-Enterprise<\/em>, Sanchez said that the work \u201cstems from the fact that we are tired of not being heard from city officials who vote on and approve warehouse building. We need them to listen to us community members when we tell them what we want from them and how we want the land to be used, whether that\u2019s for community parks, community gardens, anything but warehouses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon had given a $5,000 donation to the Cheech in both 2022 and 2023. But going forward, the company said it would no longer be providing anymore money because \u201cthe artist then gave an interview expressing hostility towards Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cheech opened in 2022 after the Riverside Art Museum, which manages the center, secured a gift from actor and\u00a0ARTnews\u00a0<\/em>Top 200 Collector Cheech Marin from his collection of Chicanx art, which has long been considered the largest in the world. It has been popular with the local community and tourists, and well-received by critics. The museum said that it had a goal of getting 100,000 visitors in its first year, and that it had\u00a0surpassed\u00a0that goal by 30 percent.<\/p>\n

The Cheech also had major support from the City of Riverside, which has agreed to give $800,000 annually to the institution for its budget for its first decade of existence. The city council also helped secure $10.7 million from the California State budget that went toward retrofitting the historic building in which the Cheech is located. At the time,\u00a0Marin told\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>\u00a0of Riverside\u2019s potential, \u201cI think it\u2019ll be the next big art town. It\u2019s set up to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riverside Art Museum director Drew Oberjuerge confirmed to the\u00a0L.A. Times<\/em>\u00a0the amount of the donations from Amazon, but said she first learned about Amazon ending its donations from the leaked document.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither payment was designated for an exhibition, and the company has not communicated any questions or concerns about an artwork or requested the return of its donations,\u201d Oberjuerge said in a statement. \u201cWe believe in supporting artists and curators who challenge, surprise, delight, annoy and anger. It\u2019s through this dialogue we better understand our shared experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to\u00a0ARTnews<\/em>\u00a0in 2021, ahead of the center\u2019s opening, the Cheech\u2019s artistic director Mar\u00eda Esther Fern\u00e1ndez said, \u201cWhen you think about Chicanx art, it comes from a political movement that was concerned with social justice and issues of equity,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can\u2019t have a center that\u2019s focused on this kind of art without thinking locally. It\u2019s important to understand its roots in community.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source\uff1ahttps:\/\/www.artnews.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amazon\u00a0has reportedly ended its financial support for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, after the institution included an artwork that the company deemed critical of its business strategy in Southern California\u2019s Inland Empire. The news was first reported earlier this week by the\u00a0Los Angeles Times. Just days after the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,7,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artist","8":"category-auction","9":"category-events","10":"category-gallery","11":"category-latest-news"},"yoast_head":"\nAmazon Cuts Ties with Riverside\u2019s Cheech Museum After Show with Work Critical of the Tech Company - Investable Art Auctioneer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Amazon\u00a0has reportedly ended its financial support for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, after the institution included an artwork that the company deemed critical of its business strategy in Southern California\u2019s Inland Empire.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/amazon-cuts-ties-with-riversides-cheech-museum-after-show-with-work-critical-of-the-tech-company\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amazon Cuts Ties with Riverside\u2019s Cheech Museum After Show with Work Critical of the Tech Company - 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