Patrociño Barela

Patrociño Barela
Patrociño Barela
Born	(1902-10-14)October 14, 1902 Bisbee, Arizona
Died	October 24, 1964(1964-10-24) (aged 62) Taos, New Mexico
Cause of death	fire
Resting place	Nuestra Señora de Dolores Cemetery, Canon, Taos County, NM
Nationality	American
Occupation	Artist
Known for	carving

Patrociño Barela, also known as Patrocinio Barela or Patrocino Barela (1900–1964), was a self-taught wood carver. Because of the religious nature of his subjects he was called a santero, but he did secular work too. His work was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York with other artists of the Federal Art Project and he was feted as "a discovery." He was the first Mexican American artist to receive national recognition.

Patrociño Barela's date of birth is unclear, but is assumed from his various accounts to have occurred between 1900 and 1904. His mother and younger sister both died early in his life, but these dates likewise are not clear. Barela did not attend school for more than a few weeks and was not able to write. He worked as a steelworker, miner, on the railway, as a farmhand, and as a unionized carpenter. In 1930, he married a widow and eventually with her had three more children (giving them seven in total).

He found his calling as a carver of sacred objects in 1931. He repaired a figure of St Antonio and he later recounted that he knew that someone was going to make 20 dollars from his work and he was promised five. Although the five dollars never appeared, Barela realized that his work had value and he continued to make figures. He was taken on by the Works Progress Administration working with a horse and cart. His carvings were spotted and he was set to do those instead, eventually as part of the Public Works of Art Project. Because he was illiterate he was given a sheet filled with squares to which he would add a cross every day to record his work. This was in 1935 and eventually his work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art but he had no ambition to see the eight objects chosen as part of a Federal Arts Project exhibition there. He was lauded by the museum as "the most dramatic discovery" and he was called "discovery of the year" by Time magazine. Two other exhibitions of his work in 1939 further established Barela nationally, the San Francisco Golden Gate Exposition and the American Art Today show at the New York World's Fair.