Rodriguez's career began when writer
T. T. Flynn funded a scholarship for him to enroll in the Santa Fe Art School as the first and only
Hispano painting student. In 1936, Rodriguez found work through the federally funded programs known as the
Works Progress Administration. Regional director Russell Vernon Hunter encouraged Rodriguez to revive the Spanish colonial art technique known as "straw appliqué". In 2001 Rodriguez finally got a solo exhibition,
Eliseo Rodriguez : el sexto pintor, held at the
New Mexico Museum of Art. Eliseo created the bronze plaques that are set in the sidewalk in front of the Fine Art Museum in Santa Fe, at a corner of the Plaza, and he is included along with the Cinco Pintores and other master painters. Rodriguez's works are in the public collections of the
Albuquerque Museum,
Millicent Rogers Museum, Folk Art Museum (Berlin, Germany), Museum of Spanish Colonial Art,
Museum of International Folk Art,
American Museum in Britain,
Smithsonian Museum of American History, and the
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Rodriguez died at home on April 3, 2009. Paula, his wife of 74 years, preceded him in death by about four months. He is buried in the Santa Fe National Cemetery for his service in the US Army during World War II. ==Awards and honors==