Linda Montano was born in January of 1942, the 3rd of four children in small upstate NNY. Her family, Irish and Italian, were strict Roman Catholics with a strong adoration for the arts. Both her mother and father were orchestral musicians, and her mother was also a painter. Coming from such an artistic background, Montano naturally followed the path of artistry. She started her undergraduate career at the College of New Rochelle, however, quickly afterwards she decided to join the Maryknoll Sisters inspired by her faith and wanting to work with others. After two years in training, however, Montano developed severe Anorexia. Convinced that art would help remedy her condition, she returned to her old college and graduated with a degree in sculpture. During this time of her life, Montano came to believe that “life is art/art is life.”

Montano then went on to get an MA in sculpture in Italy, and an MFA in Wisconsin. By the 1970s, Montano had devoted herself and her practice to performance art, however. During this time in her life, she married the photographer Mitchell Payne and moved with him to San Francisco in 1970. She drifted away from the Catholic Church, though she still spoke about how much influenced her: the discipline and work ethic she'd learned carrying over into her art throughout her career, for example. In San Fran she established herself as a performance artist with a variety of different performances such as physically tying herself to other artists (“Handcuff” [1973] with Tom Marioni) and wearing a blindfold and living life for three days (“Three Day Blindfold” [1974]). When her husband, who she'd separated from died in the following years, the lengths to which she explored healing with art expanded with her piece about his passing (“Mitchell's Death” [1978]). Montano continued her artistic work with many performances such as “Art/Life: One Year Performance” (1983–84) with Tehching Hsieh, collaborative workshops with her good friend Annie Sprinkle, her work Seven Years of Living Art, and her establishment of the Art/Life Institute to name just a few.

Montano herself also had a great interest in yoga and meditation, and it also influenced her work (particularly in “Seven Years of Living Art,” and the following “Another Seven Years of Living Art”), along with much of her personal research and her views on life. Montano is known for focusing on patience and empathy because of her intensive endurance-based performances, and questioning the boundaries between life and art.