We are proud to have hosted our fair share of legends here at the Artist Tree but perhaps none so closely tied to our foundational pillars of Art & Cannabis as Cheech Marin. On October 15th, Cheech & crew rolled up to do a meet & greet at the Artist Tree West Hollywood.
Cheech Marin gained initial acclaim through embodying half of irreverent stoner comedy duo- Cheech & Chong. Gaining popularity in the 70’s & 80’s alongside the “free-love” movement, Cheech & Chong carved their names in stone as cannabis & counterculture icons.
Fans lined up for the chance to meet Cheech, ask questions and pose for photographs. One fan even brought in an exact toy car replica of the car Cheech & Chong drove in their debut movie- Up in Smoke (1978). Cheech, with a rare kind of true kindness, was ecstatic to meet with everybody, asking them questions in return for questions asked of him and encouraging nervous fans to come on over.
Cheech’s Stash is available at several Artist Tree locations, including West hollywood. The tagline, “It will always be good” rings true, with a stoner god like Cheech Marin at the helm handpicking strains with the help of his daughter Jasmine and son Joey-Dee. The company states Cheech “...remains dedicated to his vision of ‘sharing the love, experience, and understanding of cannabis’, and is looking forward to shaping the future of the adult-use market responsibly”.
Since Cheech handpicks strains based on harvest, the strains available on shelves will be ever changing. The event on October 15th featured 3 strains: Super Silver Haze, Padero’s Pipeline and Runtz. These strains are so smooth and serve as smokable testament that it, indeed, will always be good!
Cheech is well known for his involvement in cannabis; a little less known are his close ties to The Artist Tree’s second pillar – art. Cheech Marin is an avid art collector. After a sold-out exhibition at the Riverside Art Museum (RAM), the museum has partnered with Cheech and created “The Cheech Marin Center”, which is set to open in May 2022. The 61,420-square-foot space will be a “center of Chicano art, not only for painting, but for sculpture, photography, and video arts” according to RAM. Funny enough this center (upon completion) will be a mere 5 minute drive from the newly opened Artist Tree Riverside! So you can stop by an Artist Tree & get all your goodies to enjoy a day at the Cheech Marin Center the way Cheech intended.
We feel so honored to have hosted Cheech in store and we hope to have him back soon! If you’re a fan or didn’t get a chance to meet Cheech, we will be hosting Tommy Chong, the other half of the iconic stoner duo, on November 5th at the same location – The Artist Tree West Hollywood. We hope to see you there!
