[4] Montana grew up in the predominantly Mexican American Boyle Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles.
[6] She attended East Los Angeles College[7] but transferred and received her BFA in 2013 from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
The show used candid photographs to chronicle a personal and community narrative of loss and redemption in the wake of her mother's struggle with narcotics, her illness, and the aftermath of her death from complications related to Hepatitis C in 2010.
[6][7] "Star Montana: I Dream of Los Angeles" at The Main Museum in 2017 captured Boyle Heights residents in meditative moments.
The show included extensive, personal narratives alongside her photographs, allowing her subjects to fully explore and share the complexities of their lives.