# Dionicio Rodriguez
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[[Image:SATeaGarden02.JPG|thumb|Entrance of the [Japanese Tea Gardens](/source/San_Antonio_Japanese_Tea_Gardens) in [San Antonio](/source/San_Antonio%2C_Texas), [Texas](/source/Texas)]]
'''Dionicio Rodríguez''' (1891–1955) was a [Mexican](/source/Mexico)-born [artist](/source/artist) and [architect](/source/architect) whose work can be seen in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas, as well as Washington, D.C., and Mexico City.
His work is noted for its unique style of [concrete](/source/concrete) construction that imitates [wood](/source/wood), known as ''[Faux Bois](/source/Faux_Bois)'' (French for ''false wood''). Gates, benches and artificial rock formations were created by the artist to invite visitors to rest or explore the landscape.
Many of his major works of art are listed in the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places).[{{NRISref|2007a}}][{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=64000021}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: The Arkansas Sculptures of Dionicio Rodriguez |author=Julie Vosmik |date=October 9, 1986}}][{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=64500904}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Sculpture by Dionicio Rodriguez in Texas |author=Patsy Light and Maria Pfeiffer |year=2004}}]
==Biography==
Rodríguez was born on April 11, 1891, in [Toluca](/source/Toluca), [State of Mexico](/source/State_of_Mexico), in [Mexico](/source/Mexico) to Catarino Rodríguez and Luz Alegria de Rodríguez. His family moved to [Mexico City](/source/Mexico_City) when he was young. When he was older, he worked with his father and brother as a [bricklayer](/source/bricklayer).[Patsy Pittman Light. ''Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodriquez''. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, 2008. p 19.] Sometime later in Mexico City Rodríguez was hired by Luis Robles Gil, a contractor and civil engineer, and by J.W. Douglas who Rodríguez made cement objects for. [http://www.memorialparkfuneralandcemetery.com/history.aspx {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117184013/http://www.memorialparkfuneralandcemetery.com/history.aspx |date=2008-01-17 }} Memorial Park Cemetery website]
===Cedar Hill Cemetery===
{{main|Cedar Hill Cemetery (Suitland, Maryland)}}
Working in Cedar Hill Cemetery just outside [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), in suburban [Suitland, Maryland](/source/Suitland%2C_Maryland), in 1936 and 1937, Rodríguez built numerous sculptural pieces, including a fallen tree bench, a tiled block bench, two bridges with branch railings and log decks, a tree shelter, and an Annie Laurie Wishing Chair.[''The Sculptures of Dionicio Rodriguez'', Cedar Hill Cemetery, 4111 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suitland, MD 20746, 20 Jan 2014.]
===Crystal Shrine Grotto===
Construction of the Crystal Shrine [Grotto](/source/Grotto) began in 1938. The grotto is a 60-foot (18.3-meter) deep, hand-built [cave](/source/cave) in a hillside near the [center](/source/Centre_(geometry)) of the cemetery, filled with five [ton](/source/ton)s (4.5 metric tons) of [quartz](/source/quartz) [crystal](/source/crystal), hence the name ''Crystal Shrine Grotto''.[ The [shrines](/source/shrines) in the grotto illustrate the stages of "[Christ](/source/Christ)'s Journey on the [Earth](/source/Earth) from [Birth](/source/Birth) to [Resurrection](/source/Resurrection)". Rodríguez' sculptures and the Crystal Shrine Grotto in the Memorial Park Cemetery are listed in the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places).]