This painting depicts the Yoruba freshwater divinity Ochún,
the goddess of rivers, streams, lakes and other things, sleeping
Ybor City born, leading Latinx visual
artist José Rodeiro graduated from
Jesuit High School in Tampa, spent
years in the New York City/New
Jersey metropolitan area, and traveled
abroad for extensive periods to paint. He
is back home in the Tampa Bay area these
days exhibiting with Bella Unica Art Gallery
in St. Petersburg.
His painting 9/11 was displayed at the
9/11 Tribute Museum at Ground Zero. His
24-foot-long narrative mural, The Discovery
of Tampa Bay by Hernando de Soto, is installed
at the Tampa Convention Center.
In his early career, he earned a bachelor’s
in painting from the University of Tampa, a
master’s in fine arts from the Pratt Institute
in New York City, and a doctorate from the
College of Fine Arts at Ohio University in
Athens, Ohio.
JULY/AUGUST 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 67
along the bank of the Niger River in Africa.