Malaquias montoya biography summary

Malaquias montoya smithsonian

Malaquias Montoya was raised in a family of seven children of parents who could not read or write either Spanish or English. The three oldest children never went beyond 7th grade education as the entire family had to work as farmworkers for their survival His father and mother were divorced in and it was his mothers desire to support the four of them still remaining at home by her work in the fields so they could pursue our education.

Professor Montoya's objective is to educate and be educated by those persons with whom he comes in contact daily. As an artist he feels a purpose to express to each individual the importance of developing that innate quality characteristic of all of us - that of creativity, and to show the relationship between that artistic creativity and community action, as both an educational tool and a catalyst for social change.

He has also taught at various community colleges throughout the San Francsico Bay Area. Professor Montoya has been invited to exhibit his art here and in Europe and Latin America. His prints, posters, drawings, paintings, and murals provide a standard of excellence for students as well as established artists; for those who aspire to humanistic goals in the expression of their art.

Malaquias Montoya has chosen not to devote his artistic creations to the commerical gallery world. A man of great political and artistic principles, he believes that art should be directed to the broadest possible audiences, including those who do not frequent commercial galleries. Montoya has elected to make the world his art gallery.

In so doing, he is following a long tradition of cultural theoreticians who have deconstructed the negative social and cultural dimensions of artistic theories opposed to popular diffusion of the arts.