150699175Ben Ortega19231998BenOrtegahttps://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/18899/fullBen Ortega was trained as a machinest and cabinet maker under the G.I. Bill. His first two figures, a Madonna and St. Francis, were carved for fun and donated to a sale benefiting the opera. They were the first items sold and Ortega abandoned his plans of being a machinist and started to carve professionally, figures of St. Francis being a specialty. He also carves animals and searches for pieces of wood whose shape reminds him of specific animals.(1923–1998)TesuqueTesuqueTesuqueBen Ortega