The homage, featuring local artists, will begin Thursday at Arte Américas, at Van Ness Avenue and Calaveras Street. It will run through April 19.
Abelino Bautista, visual arts consultant for Arte Américas, says the show is gathering work from artists who include Jose Elias, Manuel Gasca, Elia Bara- jas, Miguel Alvarez, Martin Valencia and Cecilia Aranyado. Bautista is contacting a few more artists about the exhibit.
Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers, died April 23, 1993, at the age of 66. March 31, his birthday, is a state holiday.
Grace Solis, director of Arte Américas, at one time worked for the UFW and says she wants to see this exhibit become an annual artistic tribute to Chavez.
Bautista says he is assembling existing pieces that reflect Chavez’s efforts and work, such as farm worker scenes and those that mirror social justice issues. He says some of the pieces are abstract while a few are in the realist-representational vein.
If a recent glimpse of several pieces in the exhibit is any indication, the art will breathe with a sweep and vigor that enthralls the eye.
All of the art will laud a man who fought to improve the plight of farm workers in Central California and elsewhere, making his mark as a civil rights leader.
Bautista says Chavez’s life needs to be extolled: "To remind, and to also celebrate the accomplishments he made. It’s also a barometer: Where are we now with these same issues? Have they been solved? Are things better now?"
Arte Américas is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays (until 8 p.m on Thursdays). Admission costs $3; $2 students and seniors; free to children younger than 5. For more information, (559) 266-2623 or go to www.arteamericas.org.