Born in New York, Rafael Tufiño moved to Puerto Rico in 1932. From a young age he worked in the sign painting workshop of Antonio Maldonado. In the 1940’s Tufiño went to Mexico and studied engraving at the San Carlos Academy, coming under the influence of the Mexican muralists Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. Much of his art practice was dedicated to minority communities in New York and Puerto Rico, work for which he received an award from the National Arts Club in New York in 2003.