Nationally known artist Lowell Herrero will be celebrated at the Napa Valley Museum with an exhibition of 30 paintings created over the past decade in his Calistoga studio.

Opening Aug. 24 and continuing through Nov. 5, this exhibition brings together recent work from Herrero’s prolific career begun shortly after World War II, and provides the opportunity to see its evolution from small canvases to monumental ones and from advertising illustration to painting.

An opening reception is Friday, Aug. 24, from 5-7 p.m. at the Napa Valley Museum. Admission to the reception is free for members and $5 for non-members.

Inspired by the beauty and fertility of Northern California, Tuscany, Provence and Spain, Herrero’s sunny canvases of farm laborers and families amid vineyards, flower fields and olive groves could almost be windows on the landscape and agricultural work just outside the museum’s door.

Born and raised a Californian, and a longtime resident of Napa Valley, Herrero creates works that are widely collected and admired. Throughout a life that has spanned the Great Depression and the beginning of the 21st century, Herrero has lived and breathed art. As a young artist trained at the California College of Arts and Crafts, he honed his skills as an illustrator and caricaturist at the San Francisco Chronicle and at local nightclubs. He went on to form a successful studio partnership, providing creative work to such national clients as Chevrolet, Morton Salt and Pillsbury.

In the mid-1960s, Herrero began working independently as both a painter and illustrator and developed a reputation for his marvelous animals — whales, cats, and cows — that have been reproduced in calendars, posters, limited edition prints, and stationery for more than 30 years.

The Napa Valley Museum is at 55 Presidents Circle adjacent to Domaine Chandon, in Yountville. The museum is open daily, except Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $4.50 for adults, $3.50 for students/seniors and $2.50 for youth 7-17. Children under 7 are admitted free. For more information, visit www.napavalleymuseum.org or call 944-0500.

Former choir students of George Hildebrandt, who taught at Napa High from 1954-68, are planning a get-together at the Meadows in Napa, where he now lives with his wife, Joan. The date is Nov. 4, from noon to 4 p.m. To r.s.v.p. contact Donna at A1Coloman@aol.com or Marge at (559) 999-8380.