my workshop to learn my techniques.
In 1980 I was a consultant and panel member at a meeting at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, sponsored by the California Arts Council, at which I raised issues related to disabled artists.
I designed a program between 1978 - 1981 at the Junior Center of Arts and Sciences in Oakland, California which was an integrated workshop of sighted and the blind. Blind students of mine, acting as my assistants, taught sighted students how to carve stone.
In 1981 I was a guest workshop leader at the International Conference on Handicapped Art in Oakland, Ca. which was hosted by the Oakland Museum and Creative Growth Center.
In 1980 I was listed at the National Center for Barrier-Free Environment as a resource consultant on the needs of the handicapped (all ages) regarding the set-up of physical environments, art-instructional techniques and exhibits.
I introduced the 1st sculpture competition in the history of the Alameda County Fair (Pleasanton, California, 1980) in which blind and sighted artists compete. Disabled sculptors, blind students of mine, win 1st and 2nd Awards competing with the sighted.
In 1980, I provided workshops at educational institutions on Artist Residency Programs, sponsored by then California Governor Jerry Brown.
In 1982 a TV documentary about my art career, a KTVU production, aired on prime-time television around the country, titled ISHMAEL RODRIGUEZ, A FRIEND TO LOVE ME.
In 1987 I was invited for a solo exhibit in honor of Mayor Lionel Wilson at the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, California.
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