feature / on-03
September 20, 2024
By Mike R. Winder

ENTREPRENEURS AHORA

LATINA/E/O/X BUSINESS OWNERS ARE ON THE RISE. MEET THREE SOCAL ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE DOING THINGS THEIR WAY.

The recent ArtCenter exhibition IdentificarX explored the complex and distinct contributions that the College’s Latina/e/o/x alumni have made to the fields of art and design, and their significant cultural impact. Everything from photographic portraits to Adidas sneakers—works representing the creative output of more than 100 alumni—were on display across four galleries at the College’s South Campus. 

In “The Solitude of LatinX,” a wide-ranging essay written for the exhibition, Humanities and Sciences Associate Professor Rocio Carlos cites creativity as a means through which the Latina/e/o/x community found a way to thrive, despite the obstacles in the way. “What Borges calls A History of Infamy turned out to be our biggest survival tactic: making shit up: cleverness, inventiveness, innovation,” she writes. 

Cleverness, inventiveness, innovation—qualities that are often associated with entrepreneurship. And according to the Latino Business Action Network’s annual State of Latino Entrepreneurship report, Latino-owned businesses have grown 10 times faster than white-owned businesses in the last 14 years (57% vs. 5%). But numbers only tell part of the story—and Latino entrepreneurs, like all entrepreneurs, contain multitudes.

In this story, we’ll look at three Southern Californian Latino entrepreneurs: actor and Chicano art collector turned museum founder Cheech Marin; journalist turned serial entrepreneur and ArtCenter trustee Michelle Ruiz; and globally renowned artist and recent recipient of an ArtCenter honorary doctorate of letters Robert Vargas—just a few examples of what entrepreneurship in the Latina/e/o/x community looks like.

THE ACCIDENTAL BUSINESSMAN

In a 2005 documentary titled The Chicano Collection, actor and comedian Cheech Marin says the first time he heard the word Chicano was from a mechanic who was discussing a wiring issue with a car. He recalled hearing the mechanic say, “‘Hey, give me a piece of tinfoil, and I’ll put it together. Hell, I’m a Chicano mechanic,’” said Marin. “And I thought, ‘Oh, a Chicano mechanic! … They can get stuff done. They can cut through the bullshit. OK, I want to be a Chicano, too.’” 

Marin, of course, became part of the comedic duo and cultural touchpoint Cheech and Chong and went on to carve out a Hollywood career for himself, appearing in such films as Born in East L.A., Disney’s The Lion King and Tin Cup. But on the side, he also collected Chicano art, eventually becoming the leading collector of the movement. Among the significant Chicano artists included in Marin’s personal collection of more than 700 works are Carlos Almaraz, Margaret Garcia, Judithe Hernández, Gilbert “Magu” Luján, Frank Romero and Patssi Valdez. 

In the early 2000s, he began touring highlights from his collection to art institutions throughout the United States, a practice he continued for the next two decades, eventually bringing his collection to more than 50 museums across the nation. One such event was at the Riverside Art Museum, in Southern California’s Inland Empire. The museum and the city of Riverside then made Marin an offer he couldn’t refuse: Gift us your collection, officials said, and we’ll renovate a former public library and turn it into a permanent home for your works.

“I’m an accidental businessman,” says Marin, via Zoom from his home in Joshua Tree. He is wearing a purple T-shirt bearing the logo for his Riverside museum, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture. “I got into this business because of my mania for collecting anything from a young age—basketball cards, baseball cards, stamps, bottle caps, marbles. Through a long process, that transferred into art. I didn’t mean to start a business, but a business was thrust upon me because the need was there. So now I’m facing what it means to be entrepreneurial in the art world, and I’m learning as I go along.”

“The Cheech,” as his museum is affectionately known, is the nation’s first art institution dedicated to Chicano art. And it’s a hit. Since it opened in the summer of 2022, over a quarter of a million visitors and more than 20,000 students have toured the center. In 2023, the Riverside Art Museum received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in recognition of the exceptional contribution that The Cheech has made to its community.

Merriam-Webster defines an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” In the case of Marin and his lifelong passion for Chicano art, the entrepreneurial enterprise has been getting Chicano art seen on a national level, and as a genre just as deserving of a platform as any other form of American art. “That’s what we’ve done through the organization of these national tours of the collection—introduced people to Chicano art in some of the most hallowed halls of art in the United States,” Marin says.  “We accomplished that. And then we were given this opportunity with the city of Riverside.” 

The Cheech is also opening new opportunities for up-and-coming artists with its Altura Credit Union Community Gallery, visible on both sides of the main entrance as soon as you walk into the museum. “We wanted to plant our roots very firmly in the community, discovering and rewarding local talent,” says Marin. “And a really good roster of artists has been coming through there. It seems to be having a really good effect on the Inland Empire and [Riverside] County, especially in academic communities, where they’re sprouting local art shows and gatherings of artists. And that process is happening because it was set up from the very beginning when we came to Riverside.” 

With all this success come the responsibilities inherent in running a museum. It’s a much larger undertaking—though with decades of nonstop national tours under his belt, Marin was never the type to simply hoard his collection away. “There are some days I wish I just had the collection,” adds Marin with a smile. “I didn't realize I was going to become a lifelong fundraiser. But it’s a process.”

THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

One possible reason behind the disparity in lending practices is unconscious bias, which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as “unconscious favoritism towards or prejudice against people of a particular race, gender, or group that influences one’s actions or perceptions.”

Helping organizations assess and manage unconscious bias in the work environment is the mission of BiasSync, a startup co-founded by Michele Ruiz,  journalist turned serial entrepreneur and an ArtCenter Trustee. 

In her research leading to the creation of BiasSync, Ruiz says the main question she was trying to answer was: Why has diversity, equity and inclusion training existed for decades, yet progress hasn’t really been made? The answer, she found, is that traditional training doesn’t address the core issue that makes such training necessary in the first place—unconscious or implicit bias. With that in mind, she and co-founder Dan Gould, formerly vice president of technology at Tinder, developed a methodology that utilizes a behavior change approach that’s rooted in data and science.

“Part of the behavior change approach is giving people the experience of understanding where their own brains may have a propensity to stereotype, because that’s what unconscious bias is,” says Ruiz, via Zoom. “Usually when we say bias, we infer that we mean something bad, but it’s not bad in all instances.”

However, what BiasSync is focused on are those biases that play out in workplaces that can lead to inequitable outcomes, less inclusion, or discrimination risks. To measure unconscious bias in a workplace, BiasSync has employees undergo an assessment that unearths what biases they might have, and whether those biases are strong, moderate or neutral. “Many of us believe we are advocates or champions for a particular group,” says Ruiz. “It may be related to our ethnicity, or our faith, or where we came from, or our socioeconomic status. But then [after the assessment], we find out we have a bias against that group. It’s a real Aha! moment.”

As an example, she points to data collected through her platform that show women have more gender bias toward women than men do. “A lot of women consider themselves advocates for the advancement, promotion, or equity of women. But yet— wait! We have a bias toward women?” says Ruiz. “It’s an important process for individuals to have the ability to understand their levels of bias, because once they have that Aha! moment, they can become more open-minded and learn how to keep those biases in check to make better, more equitable and fair decisions.”

Ruiz says that part of being a successful entrepreneur is being able to adapt when the world changes. As an example, she cites a recent phone call she had with the head of learning for a large tech company based in Texas. “[She] said to me, ‘We don’t use the D word here,” says Ruiz. “And I knew what she meant was diversity. That to me was demonstrating how the world has changed.”

Turns out the word diversity itself can be triggering for some, Ruiz says, and some companies that have been more forward-thinking on the need and benefit for diversity have decided to focus more on equity, inclusion and belonging. “The world may be changing, but the core need still exists,” says Ruiz. “So that’s what we solve for. If our clients aren’t comfortable using the word diversity, how do we adapt what we provide?”

When it comes to BiasSync’s training content, the company has leaned on Ruiz’ past experience as a television journalist. “Most of us who have worked in a corporate environment have been through safety or sexual harassment training that’s just dreadful, where you’d rather be doing anything other than the training,” says Ruiz, who explains that BiasSync’s approach to training is to craft engaging storytelling around the learning outcomes. “In some instances, our content has been compared to watching a show on Netflix. It’s interesting and compelling, which helps with retention.”

For Ruiz, the importance of the work that BiasSync is accomplishing goes beyond the outcome of one individual—it’s about changing the family legacy for generations to come. “When we change the equitable outcome for somebody who belongs to a group that is typically marginalized, then you change the equitable outcomes for their family, and in turn you change it for generations within that family. It’s about impact.”

And that impact is what truly drives Ruiz. “I’m a purpose-driven person,” she says, “which, to me, means that to the best of my ability, what I’m doing is serving a larger purpose than just myself.”

The desire to change the family legacy for generations is something that many Latinos, particularly Latino immigrants, have in common, says Cázares. “They are bringing with them [to the United States] this spirit of, ‘Hey, we came here to build better lives for our families,’” he says. 

“And It’s more than just Latinos,” adds Cázares. “It’s the immigrant experience. It’s the American dream. They believe America is a place where if you work hard and figure it out, you can get ahead.” 

“And even if life is unfair—and a lot of our data show that Latinos are facing unfairness—they still believe in their ability to make it better,” he says. “Because at the end of the day, they have no choice but to do what they need to do to make a better life for their children. And that creates a very entrepreneurial community.”

THE ACCESSIBLE ARTIST

Whether or not you’re a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, you’ve probably seen the giant, 150-foot-tall mural of pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani painted on the outer wall of Miyako Hotel’s flagship hotel in Downtown L.A.’s Little Tokyo. The mural is just one of many large-scale works by internationally renowned artist Robert Vargas, who this past spring received an honorary doctorate of letters degree from ArtCenter.

A contemporary artist known for his mixed-media portraits, murals and live events, Vargas has painted murals around the globe, from his native Boyle Heights neighborhood to Paris. His work in progress Angelus, in downtown Pershing Square—scheduled to be completed this year—is being painted on the side of a 14-story apartment building. The work is set to break the Guinness World Record for the largest mural completed by a single artist. 

In 2021, the city of Los Angeles honored the artist by naming September 8 “Robert Vargas Day.” That honor recognizes his contributions to the cultural life of the city, to the arts, and as a leading creative force. Last year, he was honored again by the city, which designated the intersection of First and State streets as Robert Vargas Square. 

For as long as Vargas can remember, he’s been an artist. He remembers being 8 or 9 years old and painting outside in the front yard, and he remembers people slowing down or stopping to watch him work. “The surface I was painting on was probably no bigger than this,” he says, via Zoom, holding up his hands to form a roughly 11” x 17” square. “But the reason I was drawing outside was because the walls of my bedroom felt too constricting. If I wanted to make a big gesture, I’d have to worry about paints flying around my bedroom. So [being outside] allowed me to think differently.”

Vargas recently completed his 2024 World Art Tour in Europe, in which he traveled to Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Venice, Vicenza, London and Rome. In each city, he spent time painting portraits of everyday people he encountered on the street. “The people that I’m painting have no idea they were going to be painted that day. I pull them from the crowd to take part in this activation. So if I’m in town working on a mural or another big project, I still find the time to get into the community on a grassroots level.”

Each of those portraits, Vargas says, takes him 15 to 20 minutes to complete. “They’re like my poems,” he says—whereas his larger works, where he’s painting on the side of a building, are his novels. “Those works activate the built environment around us, and also give access to the arts to people who may otherwise not feel that galleries or museums are open to them.”  

And it’s not just Vargas’ process or choice of venues that make him stand apart from other artists; it’s also the way he’s chosen to operate his business. “I’ve never had an agent. I’ve never had a manager. I’ve never had any kind of gatekeepers. I negotiate all the deals,” he says. “I’ve done away with a lot of those constructs that were set up for previous generations of artists. I’m of the new school of thinking that all the power lies with the artist. I believe those old constructs need us a lot more than we need them.” 

“In order to have true creative freedom,” he continues. “You need to have creative control not just of your work, but of the content and the message, and from people telling you, ‘Don’t make yourself so accessible. Don’t paint out on the streets or in the city centers. Just do the big murals and the brand collabs and the rock star stuff; don’t do that stuff with the community.’ People have told me that. But if I wasn’t so accessible, and I wasn’t so connected, I’d be a different artist.

“I think creative control and creative freedom are paramount when you’re talking about creative entrepreneurship in this day and age,” he continues. “I think all the power is with the artist, especially with the advent of social media, where you’re able to be your own spokesperson. You’re able to reach your audience directly.”