When Bernal was a child, he was privately tutored in art and music.
 He was graduated from Normal Teachers College in 1945 and began teaching at a series of public and private schools in the province of Las Villas.
Simultaneously, he enrolled in the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Leopoldo Romañach where he earned his MFA.
His musical and visual creations were performed and exhibited in Santa Clara and Havana.

In 1961, "... during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Bernal was among the throngs of Cubans arrested for unpatriotic behavior and confined for eleven days in the gymnasium of the Marta Abreu University in Santa Clara.
 Bernal's offense was refusal to work in the fields cutting sugar cane.
 After his release, the threat of execution haunted [him] and his wife, and they cautiously initiated plans to leave the country with their three young children.
It took more than a year to obtain visas ..." and with the help of the Methodist Church, the Bernals were able to board a Pan Am flight for the United States of America in June 1962.
When Bernal was a child, he was privately tutored in art and music.  He was graduated from Normal Teachers College in 1945 and began teaching at a series of public and private schools in the province of Las Villas. Simultaneously, he enrolled in the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Leopoldo Romañach where he earned his MFA. His musical and visual creations were performed and exhibited in Santa Clara and Havana.
In 1961, "... during the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Bernal was among the throngs of Cubans arrested for unpatriotic behavior and confined for eleven days in the gymnasium of the Marta Abreu University in Santa Clara.  Bernal's offense was refusal to work in the fields cutting sugar cane.  After his release, the threat of execution haunted [him] and his wife, and they cautiously initiated plans to leave the country with their three young children. It took more than a year to obtain visas ..." and with the help of the Methodist Church, the Bernals were able to board a Pan Am flight for the United States of America in June 1962.
José Bernal