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Patrocino Barela Bulto wood 1936 Patrocino Barela was born in Bisbee, Arizona, in 1908. He was from a family of laborers, so his father did not feel education was necessary. At the age of 11, he ran away from home. Barela was placed in the home of an African American family where he learned to speak English. Prior to his return to Bizbee in 1930, he worked as a ranch hand and itinerant laborer in Colorado and Wyoming. Barela began to carve "bultos" in 1931, being inspired by the crudely, carved old church sculptures. Barela's first carvings were traditional figures of saints. However, his expression was not influenced by tutoring in the presentation of religious subjects. The strongest influence was his father, who was an herb healer. Barela lived in villages in Taos Canyon, New Mexico where he worked as an occasional laborer and carver. This was during the Depression; work was scarce and there was no market for art.

When the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project (WPA/FAP) was organized in 1935, Barela's work was brought to the attention of the project by a social worker. He was employed by FAP from 1936-1939, then was transferred to the work Project Administration's Art Project until 1943. To Barela, school was the observation of natural phenomena.

Most of Barela's FAP pieces are now in the Harwood Foundation at the University of New Mexico. Barela died on October 24, 1964, when a fire consumed his workshop in Canon, New Mexico.

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