Spirit Ascendant

Patrocino Barela (1900-1964) worked most of his life as a wood carver in Taos, New Mexico. A renowned santero--an artist who creates images of saints--Barela is recognized by New Mexico's contemporary Hispanic artists as a major source of inspiration. He emerged in 1936 as one of America's important artists when he was featured in a show of Federal Arts Project artists in New York's Museum of Modern Art, the first Mexican-American artist to be so recognized.