150833402Felipe Benito Archuleta19101991FelipeArchuletahttps://collection.folkartmuseum.org/internal/media/dispatcher/9279/fullArchuleta has worked at various jobs since childhood, from migrant farm worker to stone mason with the WPA. He finally settled in Tesuque where he supported himself as a farmer and carpenter. As work became scarce, he prayed to God for guidance and received the inspiration to carve. He has been carving since 1964, and is considered the patriarch of the Santa Fe School of woodcarvers. Although these animal carvings are secular in nature, they continue the tradition of woodcarving started in the 16th century with the arrival of the Spanish in New Mexico.Felipe Archuleta began carving in 1964 when his prayers to God for guidance resulted in the inspiration to carve. Archuleta became the spearhead for a whole school of contemporary carvers in New Mexico whose work is, in a sense, a continuation of the woodcarving tradition begun in the 16th century by Spanish settlers in the Southwest.(1910–1991)Santa CruzTesuqueSanta CruzTesuqueSanta CruzTesuqueFelipe Benito ArchuletaFelipe B. Archuleta