Isabel Bernal (b. San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, 1935) is a Puerto Rican artist. She is known for her silkscreen prints and paintings, and her works are held in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museo del Barrio, and the

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico The Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico'', abbreviated MAPR) is an art museum in Santurce, a barrio of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with 18 exhibition halls. The museum is located in a historic building, formerly occup ...

. She is among the generation of Puerto Rican visual artists fostered by and associated with the

Puerto Rican Division of Community Education The Puerto Rican Division of Community Education (Spanish: ''División de Educación de la Comunidad'', DIVEDCO) was an agency established in 1949 with the purpose of producing cultural materials for public education on the island of Puerto Rico. L ...

and is among the artists associated with the tradition of post-war poster art in Puerto Rico.

Early life and education

Bernal was born in 1935 in

San Sebastián, Puerto Rico San Sebastián (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and Camuy; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of Lares. San Sebastián is sp ...

. She studied design, drawing, and silkscreen at Mount Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then studied painting under Osiris Delgado at the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico graduating in 1957.

Career

Bernal worked at the Puerto Rican Division of Community Education, known by its Spanish acronym, DIVEDCO, from 1957 to 1987, where she was among the artists who developed a Puerto Rican tradition of silkscreen prints and posters. She is known for her portraits and, especially, her rural and urban landscapes.

References

1935 births People from San Sebastián, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican artists University of Puerto Rico alumni Living people {{printmaker-stub