Martin Delabano was born in Dallas, Texas in 1957. His father, Barney Charles Delabano, was the noted Curator of Installation at the Dallas Museum of Art for thirty-three years, in addition to being a gifted painter. Due to Barney’s career, Martin grew up in more a museum than a house, full of paintings, prints, drawings, Pre-Columbian, African, and New Guinea sculptures and baskets, all of which provided a profound influence.
Not only did he grow up around amazing art, through his father, his also met international artists Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, and Robert Rauschenberg as well as being family friends to important members to the Dallas and Texas art scene, such as Jerry Bywaters, Otis and Velma Dozier, and Octavio Medellin.
In addition to his father, Martin also credits his mother’s father, Harry Lester Taylor as another influence in his work. Harry was also a woodworker, carving bowls and making furniture with tools that Martin continues to use in his own work.
Martin received his undergraduate degree in Sculpture from East Texas University, and his Master of Art from the University of New Mexico. Shortly after, Martin became the shop foreman at the Refinery Casting Company in Dallas, and after 8 years, in 1990, became the fifth through eighth grade art teacher at St. John’s Episcopal School. Martin continues to teach and inspire his young art students to this day.