The Fowler Museum at UCLA will host an opening reception for the “José Montoya’s Abundant Harvest: Works on Paper/Works on Life” exhibit on Saturday Feb. 20 from 6-9 p.m. The exhibit features Montoya’s drawings to date and will be on display from Feb. 21-July 17.

The exhibition honors the life and work of the artist in a comprehensive survey that includes nearly 2,000 works, the inspiration for which Montoya drew from fields and field workers, farm towns and port cities of post-war California.

This exhibition also examines the central role artists and poets played in the Chicano movement and its impact on immigrant rights, as well as the other social and political issues during the time.

Montoya’s personal experience in the fields and his understanding of the harsh living conditions faced by migrant workers influenced both his activism and his art.

In the 1940s, Montoya to California’s San Joaquin Valley. At the age of nine, he started working in the fields alongside his father.

During his youth and throughout his life, Montoya wrote about these experiences in essays and poems.

In addition to his contributions as an artist, Montoya was a lifelong educator. He received his master’s degree from Cal State Sacramento, where he taught for over twenty-five years as a professor of art, photography and education. In 2002, he was named poet laureate of Sacramento.

“José Montoya’s Abundant Harvest: Works on Paper/Works on Life” is organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA and is co-curated by playwright and filmmaker Richard Montoya and independent curator Selene Preciado.

The Fowler Museum at UCLA is located at 308 Charles E Young Dr.

For information, visit fowler.ucla.edu.