George Rodriguez

Born and raised in the border city of El Paso, TX, George Rodriguez creates highly ornamented ceramic sculptures, largely unified by a connection to sociopolitical themes. Drawing inspiration from his Mexican American upbringing and experience with global travel, his guardian figures, tomb sculptures, and installations commemorate and build community. Realized with ornamentation, humor, and reverence for heritage and celebration, his art aims to build bridges between cultures and across time.

Recent projects include a permanent installation at the new Kansas City International Airport, a community tile mural at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and an outdoor public sculpture at CASA of Maryland, an immigration advocacy organization in Baltimore. His work has shown extensively throughout the U.S. including the Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Canton Art Museum, Canton, OH; amongst others.

Rodriguez’s sculptures are part of the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen College of Computer Science and Engineering, Seattle, WA; Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., and the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. He was featured on PBS Craft in America’s ​“Storytellers” episode.

Rodriguez is an educator and assistant professor at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia. His teaching extends beyond the university to engage diverse communities in collaborative building projects, such as tile murals and collectively designed large-scale sculpture. The interchange of ideas from teaching and mentorship recharges Rodriguez’s creative practice.

Presented in partnership with Institute for the Humanities. This project was made possible by a grant from the Arts Initiative at the University of Michigan.

Series presenting partners: Detroit PBS, ALL ARTS, and PBS Books. Media partner: Michigan Public.