About the Cover Artist

María Dolores Rodríguez was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1955. She studied at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas between 1974 and 1982, where she obtained a Bachelor degree in Visual Arts. From 1983 to 1984 she studied Pedagogy at the graduate level in that same institution. From 1986 to 1989 she studied at the College of Fine Arts of the University of Sevilla, Spain. In 2002, she obtained her Master degree in Visual Arts (with a concentration in Painting) from the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico.

She showed her works in the following individual exhibitions: Sincretismo y Simulacro: Imágenes de la iconografía tradicional, at Galería La Pintadera (2002); at Liga de Estudiantes de Arte de San Juan (1996); Galería Domenech, Hato Rey (1992); at La Rotisserie, Condado (1983); and, at Zoom Gallery, San Juan (1980). She has also participated in the following collective exhibitions: Semana de la Mujer at Galería Botello, Hato Rey (1995); Colectiva de Mujeres Artistas at the Puerto Rican Capitol (1993), and at the Museum of Fine Arts of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (1986); Obra única sobre papel at the Salón de Arte Yaucano (1985); Women Artists from Puerto Rico at Cayman Gallery, New York (1984); Primera Exposición de Pintores Ponceños at the Universidad Interamericana de Ponce (1983); Primera Sala Gráfica Puertorriqueña in San Juan (1981); at Cinco en la Firenze, Firenze Restaurant and Gallery (1980), and at Taller Panamericano de la Gráfica (1979). She has received the following prizes: Mención de Honor en Pintura del Ateneo Puertorriqueño (1984); Primer Premio de Pintura Certámen Revista Sin Nombre (1985); Mención de Honor en Pintura, Certámen de la Fundación Alfonso Arana (1994); Beca del Fondo Nacional para el Quehacer Cultural (1995 and 1997); and Beca de la Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México (2000).