Barney Delabano (1926-1997) was born in Denison, Texas. He graduated from high school in 1942 and moved to Dallas to study at the Aunspaugh Art School. Delabano then studied painting under Olin Herman Travis at the Dallas Art Institute. Before entering the Army, Delabano became good friends with and worked alongside Charles T. Bowling. He entered Southern Methodist University in 1947 and for the next three years studied with Ed Bearden, Otis Dozier, and Jerry Bywaters. In the late forties, Delabano continued his studies with Bearden and Dozier at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts School.

In 1951, Mr. Delabano became a school teacher, teaching art for seven and a half years in the public school system. While teaching, he continued to st...