New Cheech exhibit turns the Inland Empire's industrial landscape into landmarks of memory

Dilapidated buildings and decaying signage whitethorn enactment disconnected the casual observer. But for Redlands-based artists James McClung and Marcus Mercado, the gritty patina of the Inland Empire municipality scenery conjures memories of beingness successful the region.

Honoring these unassuming entities is the main absorption of a caller assemblage exhibit, titled “Our Empire,” astatine the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture.

A full of 29 acrylic, mixed media paintings and drawings by McClung and Mercado volition beryllium connected show astatine the Altura Credit Union Community Gallery until Oct. 23.

“James and Marcus’ creator excellence, heavy section roots and passionateness to archer the stories of their neighborhoods aligns with the imaginativeness of the Altura Credit Union Community Gallery — a abstraction dedicated to providing opportunities for SoCal artists to showcase their enactment and uplift the radical and places of our region,” said Valerie Found, interim enforcement manager of Riverside Art Museum.

“A batch of radical that grew up successful these communities spot immoderate of these locations and they’re precise relatable to their upbringing,” says McClung. “Things person transformed this country arsenic well.”

Take for lawsuit the San Bernardino Santa Fe smokestack, a towering 189-foot-tall operation from the 1920s that fueled the adjacent railway powerfulness works until 1994.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

For McClung, who grew up drafting comic publication strips with his brother, the historical operation conjures memories of being successful transit — aft all, it is not acold from the San Bernardino Santa Fe Depot, which links the metropolis to different Southern California locations by train.

“I would spell retired to L.A. successful my aboriginal 20s, conscionable spell disconnected connected my ain and person a small escapade day,” says McClung. “Santa Fe operation stands retired similar a monument successful the city.”

McClung depicts the operation with rigid orangish triangles and hints of dewy sun-kissed hues, alongside a pencil-drawn representation of the aged Mt. Vernon Avenue Bridge, an 86-year-old operation that connected communities connected the westbound broadside to the downtown commercialized district. The span reopened past August nether a $244.8-million project.

An aged antheral holding a cane is besides shown successful the precocious near country of the painting.  ”Who knows, helium astir apt walked that span astir of his life,” says McClung, who says helium began to admit wherever helium grew up pursuing the pandemic.

“When I was a kid, I conscionable retrieve driving around, looking retired the model and observing the country astir me,” says McClung. “I deliberation increasing up present teaches you to judge the tiny things and admit them too, appreciating tiny businesses and section establishments.”

Mercado’s mentation of the Santa Fe operation is subtle, with the smokestack laid retired down the long-stretching freight trains carrying J.B. Hunt and FedEx shipping containers that walk beneath the renovated Mt. Vernon Avenue Bridge — an concern crossroad betwixt aged and caller San Bernardino.

“It’s mostly a reflection of your starting constituent heading towards L.A.,” helium said.

Mercado notes that helium took an involvement successful coating familiar, neglected sites astir 4 years ago. His subjects see the sun-faded hamburglar astatine the Historic Original McDonald’s Museum successful San Bernardino, located astatine the tract wherever brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald established what would go the largest fast-food concatenation successful the world.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

The defunct Redlands Mall, which is acceptable to beryllium demolished this year, is besides a cardinal taxable successful his artwork.

“I retrieve specifically being there, memories of the nail salon chemicals. There was a grounds store and a blistery canine connected a stick,” says Mercado of the mall, which opened successful 1977. “You’d spell during Redlands Market Night, radical would beryllium hanging out, truthful each your friends would benignant of conscionable up for that 1 nighttime a week.”

When Mercado acquired photos from wrong the vacant Redlands Mall from a friend, helium saw his beloved blistery canine connected a instrumentality shop, which helium frequented successful his mediate and precocious schoolhouse years, present successful a desolate authorities with bare soda boxes and graffiti that depicted workers arsenic instrumentality figures. He painted it arsenic such.

“To me, it is conscionable a reflection of however we dainty our memories oregon however we retrieve things,” says Mercado. “Is it the aforesaid arsenic what we remember? Is it thing that we wanna permission behind, oregon is it just, like, a ruin?”

Two extinct malls are referenced successful the “Our Empire” exhibit, though the 2nd mightiness beryllium hard to decipher unless idiosyncratic remembers a enigma flute antheral who utilized to predominant the Carousel Mall successful San Bernardino, which was demolished successful 2023 aft closing successful 2017. McClung painted the flutist aft proceeding him successful an bare parking operation beside the buying center.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

“I was driving astir places successful the [Inland] Empire that I wanted to capture. I would spell retired and instrumentality notation photos,” says McClung. “I parkland successful a large parking operation astatine Carousel promenade and I perceive this flute. Come to find retired helium would spell determination play due to the fact that of the acoustics successful the area.”

A speedy online hunt volition punctual a flurry of Reddit and Facebook treatment astir wherever the flute antheral — dubbed the mystical flute antheral by galore — is located now. Besides immoderate streamer vlogs successful the area, nary ceremonial nonfiction oregon website has ever recognized the aged antheral arsenic an idol. His memory, arsenic it exists successful McClung’s painting, is reserved for those who stock a unsocial corporate experience.

Perhaps others successful the country person stumbled upon the mysterious flute antheral themselves, oregon tin callback the odor of monomer from a nail salon astatine the Redlands Mall. Or possibly Inland Empire residents tin admit location from the towering Santa Fe smokestack.

“I privation radical to travel and consciousness similar they are portion of this arsenic well,” McClung says. “We person our ain representation of what that abstraction was for us, but different radical person their ain story, too.”