Raised on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, Boronda descended from a prominent Spanish Colonial line. His great-grandfather was a member of Father Junipero Serra’s second expedition into California in 1770. Coming from a family of means, Boronda was afforded study at the Mark Hopkins Institute in San Francisco under Arthur Mathews where he was a classmate of Thomas McGlynn and E. Charlton Fortune. He went on to train at the Art Students League in New York and in Munich and Paris. Returning home in 1910, Boronda exhibited at the Del Monte Art Gallery in Monterey. His colorful, Impressionist paintings captured the rich Californio history of the area. Boronda moved to New York in 1913 where he turned his artistic focus to street scenes and figures in romantic settings. In addition to painting, Boronda was a noted sculptor who worked primarily in wrought iron furnishings. Despite establishing himself and a craftsmen center on the East Coast, he maintained a nation-wide exhibition schedule. Boronda always retained ties to Monterey and became an early member of the Carmel Art Association.