Walking into the gallery, a sense of familiarity took over. The room was filled with vibrant canvases of various sizes, colorful glass sculptures and photographs. The room was also filled with people who looked like me. I only recently moved to Tacoma, and being 1,000 miles from my home in Southern California, I\u2019ve longed to be in a setting where I didn\u2019t feel like the odd one out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I found that setting at the \u201cEl Noroeste\u201d<\/a> exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum<\/a>. It was unlike anything else I have ever seen or experienced at a major art museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was also lucky enough to have had the chance to view the exhibit on the day of the opening reception on September 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over 300 people filled the main floor area, walking through the exhibit and through the gift shop while waiting for the highly-anticipated guest speaker, Cheech Marin, an actor and Chicano art advocate with one of the largest private Chicano art collections in America. (You can see my interview with him for the Tribune here.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n