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Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center Celebrates Opening
By Maria E Curry
November/December 2022
 Three-year-old Linda Gamboa, who lives in the San Diego community of Mira Mesa, poses in front of lowriders parked in Chicano Park on October 8, 2022, during the opening day festivities of the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center in Barrio Logan. Photo by Joe Gamboa |
 Tommie Camarillo has been the chairperson of the Chicano Park Steering Committee for over 50 years. Her image appears in paintings, like this one by Patricia Cruz in the new Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, and in Chicano Park murals. There is even a song about her called “El Corrido de Tommie Camarillo.” Photo by Maria Curry |
 Chicano Park is visible through a window in the CPMCC gift shop. Sales of books, art, crafts, and other cultural items seemed to be non-stop on opening day. Photo by Maria Curry |
 Inaugural poster for the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. Source: CPMCC Facebook page |
The long-awaited new Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center (CPMCC) in Barrio Logan and serving San Diego, the border region, and more,is already a big success! More than 1,000 visitors celebrated its opening on October 8, 2022.
A group of Chicano leaders, many of whom participated in the famous 12-day, neighborhood standoff and occupation that stopped the construction of a California Highway Patrol station in 1970 in what is now Chicano Park, conceived CPMCC. Unfair government attempts to continue destroying Logan Heights/Barrio Logan, already ruthlessly split by the new I-5 freeway, backfired with the impassioned response of a resilient, organized community. The creation of the park and its world-famous murals depicting Mexican and Chicano history—painted on the pillars supporting the San Diego-Coronado Bridge—reinforced neighborhood identity and pride.
The Chicano Museum and Cultural Center together with Chicano Park convey and preserve the history and culture of Chicanos in San Diego. The unique park has the largest mural area in the world and attracts visitors from all over. Chicano Park is a City of San Diego historical landmark (1980), listed on the California Register of Historical Resources (1997), added to the National Register of Historic Places (2013), and designated a National Landmark (2016).
As a transborder preservationist and activist from Mexico City who has experienced struggles to preserve historic neighborhoods and achieve social justice in Mexico and San Diego, I am deeply connected with this community. I got involved with the Chicano movement when I came to live in Barrio Logan in 2006. I rented a small house in front of Chicano Park, where artists were restoring the historical murals and creating new ones. Meeting my neighbors in the park for Chicano Park steering committee meetings, Day of the Dead celebrations, and public protests helped me to raise my then 12-year-old daughter with the cultural values and pride my family instilled in me in Mexico.
I met Barrio Logan organizers and artists Tommie Camarillo, Mario Chacón, Victor Ochoa, Ramón “Chunky” Sánchez, Josephine Talamántez, Mario Torero, and many others who taught me about Chicano culture and history. They inspired me to take a Chicano history class at City College. I am thrilled to know there is much more to learn with the new CPMCC.
The museum offers a powerful cultural and historic experience via indoor and outdoor exhibits presented in a continuum of paintings, photos, and murals. Visitors can even talk to some of the original neighborhood leaders or their descendants who continue to share the barrio’s milestones and culture.
I went with my Mexican-Chicana family on opening day, and we were fascinated by the meaningful displays and range of creativity, especially my three-year-old granddaughter, Linda Gamboa. In her “Viva Mexico” party dress, she posed with shiny lowriders in Chicano Park and will most likely continue preserving and sharing the stories, wisdom, and achievements of her ancestors.
For information about programs offered at the new Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, 1960 National Avenue, San Diego, visit www.chicanoparkmuseum.org.
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