CHICAGO — As a Mexican-Puerto Rican woman who grew up in Humboldt Park, Chicago artist Jazmin Rodriguez honors her city and heritage through her work.

While Rodriguez has been making art since she was a child — her mother would tell her that if she could draw on something, she should — she’s best known for her “Chicago Forever” series, which she launched in 2021.

A print of The Art Institute of Chicago by Jazmin Rodriguez. Credit: Jazmin Rodriguez

Rodriguez’s series features digital prints that playfully depict city landmarks, her favorite neighborhood spots and Chicago emblems, which the 37-year-old artist makes her own with vibrant colors, whimsical doodles, collages and patterns. The series is largely inspired by the folk art from her grandmother’s house growing up, flowers and pop culture, she said.

“When I was a teenager, I started going to shows a lot in Chicago — at Metro, Bottom Lounge. All these rock-and-roll and punk shows, and street teams were a really big thing then,” Rodriguez said. “I would start making my own posters and posting things online, and I really think that, that scene probably helped me with social media. That’s when [my art] really started getting out there.”

Rodriguez attended Columbia College Downtown for two years with the intention of studying art or something that could help her make it a career, like business or talent management, she said.

After a few years, Rodriguez decided to go on tour with her friends who were in a band, helping them make and sell merchandise, she said. She ended up living in Oakland, California, in her early 20s, and she felt she was able to grow as a working artist there before finding her way back to Chicago.

Chicago artist Jazmin Rodriguez began working as an artist full-time in 2020 after starting her “Chicago Forever” series of city-inspired prints. Credit: Provided/Jazmin Rodriguez

While Rodriguez said she didn’t feel like she could find her footing as a working artist in Chicago when she was younger, things felt different when she moved back years later.

“I don’t know if Chicago had changed or I also had changed. I had a different confidence inside, in the way that I was creating,” she said. “I think there was this kind of synergy between me and Chicago at that time. I was like, ‘Let’s go, I’m not gonna stop.’”

Rodriguez’s artwork not only helped her discover and appreciate more of Chicago, but also connect with fellow neighbors, she said.

“There’s this love for the artwork, yes, but it’s more this shared love for this city,” Rodriguez said. “It’s more inspiring than just drawing a business. It’s like, what else can we do? How can we love our neighborhoods? … This really feels like another kind of community that I didn’t feel before.”

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Rodriguez was spending 10-12 hours per day on her art — and moved from drawing and painting to digital art, the medium she’s now best known for, she said.

When Rodriguez’s partner got a job that moved them to Oklahoma for six months in 2021, she began drawing her hometown, she said.

“By the time I got back [to Chicago], my dad passed, and he was like … the most Chicago guy,” she said. “And then I couldn’t stop, because the reason I love this city so much is because my family came here, they made this home and they taught me and my cousins how to love something so much.

“So then it became like a love letter to my dad. Then it became like a love letter to my family. Then … it just became something bigger.”

Prints by Jazmin Rodriguez of Central Camera and Taquerías Atotonilco. Credit: Jazmin Rodriguez

Rodriguez’s prints feature a variety of iconic Chicago buildings and neighborhood gems, from cultural institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago and Chicago Theatre to neighborhood favorites like Roeser’s Bakery and Rainbo Roller Rink to music venues like Schuba’s and Metro.

Rodriguez said she’s most inspired to draw places because of the stories behind them, whether they’re her own memories or ones told to her by friends and neighbors.

“There’s a lot of Chicago to draw,” Rodriguez said. “A huge part of what I’m doing is telling this story. … Even when people ask me to draw their favorite restaurant, I ask, ‘Can you tell me a memory there?’ Because it’ll inspire me to figure out what colors and what patterns and how I’m gonna do it.”

As Rodriguez achieves career goals she never expected — like having her artwork sold in the Chicago Architecture Center’s shop — she also wants to lean back into drawing and painting, she said.

“The Chicago series is kind of like a return to self, a return to what you love, a return to those little, old, nostalgic memories,” she said. “And I want to go back to painting, because I really, obviously thrive in that. … I just hope that people are along for the ride to see that and that they get excited and look forward to when I share that.”

Block Club tapped Rodriguez to create a special, limited-edition print to commemorate some of our favorite stories. You can buy it in our merch store here.

This Chicago-themed print by Jazmin Rodriguez is available as part of Block Club’s current 2025 Print Subscription Series. Credit: Jazmin Rodriguez

People can learn more about Rodriguez, find her on social media and shop her artwork on her website.

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