"Farm Workers' Altar"

This altar by Emanuel Martinez, richly painted in historic motifs of Chicano culture, was used to celebrate the end of a hunger strike by Cesar Chavez, one of the foremost leaders of the Chicano civil rights movement.  Martinez combined Pre-Columbian and European symbols and figures on the "Farm Workers' Altar" to indicate the mestizo (Mixed race) heritage that Chicanos celebrate.  The images on the altar represent cultural, social and economic issues important to Chicanos.  The piece is a key work in the National Museum of American Art's growing Latino collection.