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<\/a>Southwestern College professor Jeff Nevin packs some of the guitars from the Mariachi Museum on campus.The museum recently lost its space at the college, and Nevin is looking for a new home for the one-of-a-kind collection that includes mariachi outfits, books, instruments and bronze statues. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)\nFirst in the world<\/p>\n
In 2004, Southwestern College became the first college in the world to offer a music degree program with a specialization in mariachi.\n<\/p>\n
In 2022, the college hit another milestone when it opened the Ed Marsh Mariachi Museum inside the Southwestern College library, showcasing hundreds of mariachi-centric artifacts \u2014 ranging from original outfits and manuscripts to books and instruments.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit museum \u2014 run under the auspices of the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation, of which Nevin has been president since 2013 \u2014 was made possible largely through the generosity of Marsh, a lifelong San Diegan with a passion for mariachi. Along with seed money, he donated 30 bronze busts of famous mariachi musicians, and that donation launched what would eventually become the Ed Marsh Mariachi Museum.<\/p>\n
All in all, the museum\u2019s collection numbers in the thousands, collected by Nevin over the years or donated by community members and families of well-known mariachi musicians and singers from around the world. Most of the artifacts are in storage because over the past couple of years, the original space in the library has shrunk, going from a portion of the expansive second floor to a smaller footprint along the perimeter of the first floor.<\/p>\n
Now, that footprint is gone altogether. Late last month, the museum lost its space at the library after a three-year agreement finally ended, leaving the museum without a home. The library is looking to use the space for other exhibits, with the next one possibly tied to the college\u2019s 65th anniversary, which is this year.<\/p>\n
So in late June, Nevin, with the help of professional movers, his wife and his students, dismantled the exhibit and carefully packaged everything, from intricately embroidered dresses to unique musical instruments. Every piece is now in a storage facility five minutes away from the college. They\u2019ll stay there until Nevin can find a new home \u2014 a permanent one, he hopes \u2014 and reopen the museum.<\/p>\n
In a perfect world, he said, the collection\u2019s new home would be located in a part of town with high foot traffic. His dream would be to land in Balboa Park, Liberty Station, Barrio Logan or Chula Vista, preferably at a venue that could hold the museum\u2019s vast collection as well as accommodate performances. He\u2019s visited a location in Barrio Logan but has only reached out via email to leaders in Balboa Park and Liberty Station, since he doesn\u2019t have any connections there.<\/p>\n
The library, he said, has been gracious, extending his agreement by a year, giving him time to prepare for the closure. The reality of it, though, didn\u2019t really begin to sink in until mid-June when the prospect of taking everything down and putting things in boxes loomed around the corner.<\/p>\n
Many items in the one-of-a-kind collection \u2014 with an appraised value of about $3.4 million \u2014 needed to be handled with the utmost care. There\u2019s a rare Mexican dictionary from 1895 with one of the first references to the word \u201cmariache\u201d (with an \u201ce\u201d) defined as, \u201cFandango (a party), dance of people from the pueblo.\u201d<\/p>\n
An outfit worn by Jorge Negrete \u2014 largely considered Mexico\u2019s biggest movie star from the Golden Age of cinema (often referenced as \u201cthe Gene Autry or John Wayne of Mexico\u201d) \u2014 is one of the collection\u2019s most treasured pieces. Elsewhere, there are dresses, movie posters, bronze statues, musical instruments, historical photographs and manuscripts, some devoted to women mariachi pioneers like Rebecca Gonzales and Laura Sobrino.<\/p>\n
When asked why mariachi music, especially within the context of education, matters so much, Nevin gets emotional. When the Mariachi Scholarship Foundation was first started in 1996 by Bob Griego, then the president of the Sweetwater Union High School board of directors, his main goal was to use music as way to connect to students\u2019 families.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the schools were schools where the students were 90% Mexican,\u201d said Nevin, a full-time music professor who\u2019s been teaching at Southwestern for nearly 30 years. \u201cThe parents don\u2019t come to parent-teacher night. They don\u2019t come and talk to the biology teacher about their kids\u2019 homework. But if you have the mariachi playing on parent-teacher night, that changes the conversation. They realize that the school appreciates their culture. There\u2019s a connection.\u201d<\/p>\n Nurturing that cultural connection \u2014 and perhaps cultural preservation, too \u2014 is what drives Nevin these days. Professionally, he directs Symphonic Mariachi Champa\u00f1a Nevin, highly regarded in the world as one of the most visible and respected ensembles devoted to classical mariachi music. As a teacher, he has overseen Southwestern College\u2019s renowned student ensemble, Mariachi Garibaldi.<\/p>\n The Mariachi Scholarship Foundation, which is hosting its annual Mariachi Summit on Friday, last month awarded $52,000 in scholarships, the most it has ever doled out. Past recipients have moved on to pursue their degrees in music at universities across the nation, including Harvard and Stanford, and former students are now playing in mariachi bands across the nation, from Seattle to Las Vegas to Phoenix.<\/p>\n Nevin wants to do everything he can, he said, to preserve the art of mariachi music \u2014 in the classroom, in concert halls and in a museum. He\u2019s hopeful a new home can be found, but he is cautiously optimistic, too, about the future of the museum.<\/p>\n Up until now, the museum has operated without any expenses, since it was housed inside the Southwestern College library. A new location in, say, Balboa Park or Arts District Liberty Station would require Nevin to have someone at the museum during operating hours.<\/p>\n A stand-alone museum, he said, will present a new wrinkle: \u201cI\u2019ll have to hire someone to staff the museum. We could find volunteers, but that\u2019s a whole other can of worms, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Former state senator Ben Hueso is helping Nevin scout locations and said this \u201ccreates an opportunity to find a more permanent location and one that is more accessible to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was extremely impressed by his exhibit,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a one-of-a-kind museum that deserves to be seen by more people. It deserves a location that can draw people from all over. I have appreciated mariachi all my life, but I was amazed at how I learned so many new things from the museum.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom Felkner, interim executive director of the San Diego Museum Council, said he hopes the Mariachi Museum gets a second chance.<\/p>\n \u201cLibraries like (the one) at Southwestern College play an important role in helping nurture emerging museums and exhibitions,\u201d Felkner said. \u201cThat\u2019s often a first step in realizing something bigger. What I\u2019d love to see is a permanent home for the Mariachi Museum. That\u2019s because of its importance to our region\u2019s cultural identity and heritage. It would add a vibrant dimension to our museum community while giving voice to an important musical genre.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever comes next, Nevin is up to the challenge. There\u2019s a lot at stake after all. For now, spreading the gospel of mariachi will continue through performances, but he hopes the museum gets to start its next chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s nothing like this in the world,\u201d Nevin said. \u201cThere are mariachi museums, yes, but one that\u2019s this comprehensive \u2014 with timelines and historical background that track mariachi from pre-Columbian times to today \u2014 it just doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Featuring:<\/strong> Legado del Mariachi, Symphonic Mariachi Champa\u00f1a Nevin, Mariachi Plata del College of Southern Nevada, Herencia Mariachi Academy and\u00a0Ballet Folkl\u00f3rico Internacional<\/p>\n When:<\/strong> 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 17<\/p>\n Where:<\/strong> Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown San Diego<\/p>\n Tickets:<\/strong> $35 to $100<\/p>\n Online:<\/strong> MariachiSD.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Southwestern College professor Jeff Nevin and his wife, Migdalia Nevin Rivera, carefully pack some of the artifacts from the Mariachi Museum on campus.The museum recently lost its space at the college, and Nevin is looking for a new home for the one-of-a-kind collection. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nA cultural connection<\/p>\n<\/a>Jose Amaral, a mariachi student at Southwestern College, helps with the packing of the Jorge Negrete costume from the Mariachi Museum on campus. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/a>The guitar that once belonged to mariachi performer Juan Mendoza is prepped for packing. It is one of many artifacts in the Mariachi Museum’s collection. (Nelvin C. Cepeda \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\n2026 San Diego International Mariachi Summit<\/p>\n