Book Signing:
Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodriguez
Written by
Patsy Pittman Light
George R. Brown
Convention Center, Hall B
September 20, 2008, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Over a period of some twenty years, Mexican-born artisan Dionicio Rodríguez created imaginative sculptures of reinforced concrete that imitated the natural forms and textures of trees and rocks. He worked in eight different states from 1924 through the early 1950's but spent much of his early career in San Antonio, where several of his creations have become beloved landmarks. More than a dozen of Rodríguez's works have been included on the National Register of Historic Places.
San Antonio sites such as the bus stop on Broadway, the faux bois bridge in Brackenridge Park, and the "rocks" on the Miraflores Gate at the San Antonio Museum of Art, along with the Old Mill at T.R. Pugh Memorial Park in North Little Rock and Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, are just a few of the locations covered in this volume celebrating the life and work of a Latino artisan.
Patsy Pittman Light, artist and former public school teacher and college lecturer, served as chair of the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Commission and was honored as a "Texas Hero of Historic Preservation" by the San Antonio Conservation Society. She lives in San Antonio.