Rafael Rodriguez is an artist based in the DMV area.

Rafael was born in Santa Rosa de Lima, a small town in El Salvador. He was raised between the villages Copetillo and La Joya. He went to the schools in Canton Copetillo Caserio La Ermita and Canton La Joya. In 2013, he migrated to the US to flee gang violence in his homeland. He arrived in Maryland and enrolled in Northwestern High School. He discovered his love for art in his sophomore year, which led him to be selected as a member of the Visual and Performing Arts Program at Northwestern High School. While in high school Rafael continued to explore his love for art through local organizations such as Red Dirt Studios, Joe’s Movement Emporium and Art on the Block. He graduated from Montgomery Community College in 2020 and continued his education at the University of Maryland, where he is earning a degree in Studies Studio Art with a Minor in U.S. Latina/o Studies. 

The main themes of his artwork are: migration, injustices in the U.S. immigration system and the causes of emigration from countries fraught with violence. He has also worked in various collaborative spaces in which he has been able to work with different themes. His goal is to become an art professor and contribute to society through the arts. He wants to make a better place for youth who are still in El Salvador and for those immigrants who have come to the US in search of a better future. The art that he creates not only reflects his life as an individual but also the struggles of many other immigrants in this county who work hard towards their dreams. He hopes to keep creating art about immigration injustices and seeking empathy for the marginalized communities.

Artist Statement

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