Farm Workers' Altar

Martinez created this altar for the 1968 Catholic Mass held in Delano California, where César Chávez broke the twenty-five-day fast he had undertaken to protest unfair employment practices and unsuitable work conditions for migrant laborers. On one side of the altar, a crucifix bears a brown-skinned Christ; on the other, an indigenous woman holds wheat stalks and grapes that prefigure the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Martinez defined social struggle in Christian terms by combining elements of spirituality and mestizaje, the mixed racial heritage of Mexicans and their Chicano descendants.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art, 2013

In 1968, labor activist César Chávez broke his twenty-five-day fast at this altar. His hunger strike was meant to draw attention to the exploitation of Filipino and Mexican migrant workers.

On one side, four hands with different skin tones clutch grapevines. This image refers to the Delano Grape Strike and Boycott (1965--70), when activists led by the United Farm Workers (UFW) union fought to improve conditions for migrant farmworkers. The Thunderbird icon at center represents the labor union founded by Chávez and Dolores Huerta.

The other sides of the altar include the crucifixion of a brown-skinned Christ and an Indigenous woman with wheat stalks and grapes that symbolize the bread and wine of Holy Communion.

Label text from The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture November 8, 2024 -- September 14, 2025