The Regis University Santos CollectionThe collection includes nearly 1,000 items and is housed at Dayton Memorial Library on the Denver (Northwest) campus. Father Thomas J. Steele, who retired as a Regis College faculty member in 1997, assembled the collection from the mid-1960s until his death in 2010, and the collection continues to grow. Santo, translated literally from Spanish, means saint, although this collection also features other Roman Catholic holy persons and devotional objects. Santos generally are in the form of retablos, or paintings on wood panels, or bultos, which are sculptural carvings in the round. A distinctive santo style developed in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using materials at hand, such as pine and cottonwood, and creating pigments from natural materials, santeros (saint-makers) made objects for use in religious observances as well as for home devotions.