Patricia was happy and excited to be accepted to such a prestigious art school but she didn't want to be a minimalist painter at the time like everyone else.
While attending San Francisco Art Institute, Rodriguez met and roomed with Graciela Carrillo where they rented an apartment on Balmy Alley.
The Bay Area was an important epicenter for student movement groups in the early 70s but for the Mujeres Muralistas, it was a frustrating time.
The women were aware of the muralist movements beginning in San Francisco but were never invited to participate in projects because of the male exclusivity.
This expanded version of political art that included nature, culture, and family characterized the work of Las Mujeres Muralistas.
In 1973, Rodriguez was asked to paint a mural at the James Town Community Center for children in San Francisco's Latino Mission district.
Las Mujeres Muralistas helped develop a reputation for Latin American artists and they hold a significant place in Chicano art history.
Latinoamerica is a mural created by the Mujeres Muralistas which included Patricia Rodriguez, Graciela Carrillo, Consuelo Mendez, and Irene Perez.
[9] Rodriguez and the rest of the women in the Mujeres Muralistas painted murals like Latinoamerica in sections to allow all of them to express their experiences and perspectives.
[6] Latinoamerica represents different aspects of the Latinx community that came from the members of the Mujeres Muralistas; conventional images from Bolivia and Peru by Rodriguez, imagery from Venezuela and family by Mendez, Aztec heritage by Carrillo, and cornstalk and magueys by Perez.
[5] The mural depicts, from left to right, llamas native to the Andes in South America, Peruvian pipe players, Yare devils from Venezuela, a family inside an Indian sun, a tuiuiu bird from Brazil, a Bolivian diablada figure, and an Aztecan fifth sun shining over a princess and warrior figure, all framed by cornstalk.
[5] Latinoamerica is described as an “ode to life” because it combines the spiritual, human, natural dimension of the different cultures from the people of the Mission District (the community of the Mujeres Muralistas).
[5] Rodriguez and the rest of the Mujeres Muralistas used Latinoamerica to acknowledge and represent themselves and the people in their Chicanx/Latinx community, especially the women whom are underrepresented.
[11] In 1990, Rodriguez was invited to teach at the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a printmaker.
From 2001-2009, Rodriguez began to work as a gallery coordinator as the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco.
Patricia is currently part-time retired but still continues to work with youth in a screen printing teaching position and Laney College in Oakland, California.