On Feb. 6, San Diego State University welcomed a discussion panel at Montezuma Hall, featuring the De la Torre brothers, two famous Latino glass artists. 

The Chicano Art Panel — facilitated by SDSU’s Dr. Bill Nerricio — featured brothers Einar and Jamex De La Torre. The panel discussed the artwork featured at the Cheech Museum in Riverside, California and Latin influence in art. The event also included free food, audience participation and music. 

The development of the Cheech Museum has broadened the popularity of Chicano art. The museum, which opened in June 2022, focuses on Cheech Marin’s curated art collection, which he has expanded for many years. 

Cheech puts artists of various forms on the radar and gives them more exposure to demonstrate who they are through their art. These artists are recognized for both their background and their artistic capability.

“The way we look at identity. Yes, that and that. We just see it as layers to make the whole. We are very much about identity being a fluid thing,” Einar said.

The brothers spoke about how their childhood influenced their art, especially moving from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Orange County, California, which was a massive culture shock. That cultural shock inspired them to create natural art with new and old influences. 

One of their influences included dealing with transferring from an all-boys school in Mexico to an average American high school. This experience brought forth themes of love and exploration due to the new environment.

“As border artists… we are on both sides of the border, not on half. It’s not like we are outsiders to the U.S. or Mexico. We are insiders of both,” Jamex said.

Many can have their art influenced or impacted by their backgrounds. This sentiment and collaboration set a foundation to improve lived experiences. 

The general idea of collaboration was a key theme for the brothers as they consider their ideas a conversation that goes back and forth. The thought that the craft informs the outcome was promoted by Einar, noting that they aren’t perfectionists but want to focus on the actual process of making art.

“It’s humbling to see stuff (that is) part of humanity. It’s a lot easier to create without having to be brilliant,” Einar said.

Delaney Love, an SDSU graduate student, mentioned that watching the Chicano community support the local event was exciting. 

“I’m really happy to see everyone learn more about the Cheech Marin museum,” Love said. “It was really neat to hear the community involved with art… It was cool to see people’s faces light up talking about the museum.”

Even hearing their comments took hold with Love as an ally and wanting to know more about Chicano culture.

 “I loved his comments about how you’re taught to master a subject as an individual, and someone asked about community collaboration, and this is a perfect example of that,” she said.

The De la Torre brothers look forward to a new showcase in San Antonio. The exhibition will be open to the public for two or three months. 

During this, they will demonstrate their new artworks and refurbished older ones.