NEHS alumna Sabina Angeles shares how the skills she developed as an NEHS student member have helped her become the successful business woman and gallery owner that she is today.
Sabina knows that the critical and analytical skills she developed while a member of the National English Honor Society have helped her project achieve the level of success that it has. She is not only able to talk to people about her heritage and the artwork her family produces, but also communicate about it (in a second language) through lengthy texts. The in-depth critical writing, linguistic analysis, and formal presentations she completed as an NEHS member at high school have borne fruit in her professional career, particularly when negotiating exhibitions and collaborative projects in the US.
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Mexican Art in Chicago
Sabina Angeles was a student member of NEHS at the Instituto Blaise Pascale in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she took responsibility for promoting the chapter and maintaining its social media presence. She graduated in 2022.
Sabina Angeles grew up in the small town of San Martin Tilcajete, just outside of Oaxaca, Mexico. Her family have been making Alebrijes, hand-painted mythical creatures carved in wood, for generations. She has been surrounded by the colors, textures, and creativity of her family’s workspace since she was a child.
The Tonas and Nahuals that form the Alebrije sculptures are not just physical representations of the protective animal guides that lead us through our lives, but the products of an expansive and complex Zapotec culture. It is the cultural history of these sculptures that Sabina wants to share. However, Sabina and her family are not simply recreating existing cultural artifacts. They are applying their talents to new projects such as collaborations with Coca Cola, Birkenstock, and Mercedes Benz.
It was her older brother who brought many changes to the family business, not least by forging relationships with companies and individuals outside of Oaxaca. One of the most significant changes was the opening of a gallery of the family’s work in Chicago to cater to the US interest in the artworks and the culture that produces them. Sabina, as the best English speaker and writer, was chosen to lead this project and to teach other people about her culture, share the wonderful artworks it produces, and contribute to widening understanding of the Zapotec culture beyond Mexico.
Sabina knows that the critical and analytical skills she developed while a member of the National English Honor Society have helped her project achieve the level of success that it has. She is not only able to talk to people about her heritage and the artwork her family produces, but also communicate about it (in a second language) through lengthy texts. The in-depth critical writing, linguistic analysis, and formal presentations she completed as an NEHS member at high school have borne fruit in her professional career, particularly when negotiating exhibitions and collaborative projects in the US.
Sabina graduated from Instituto Blaise Pascale in 2022. She is currently running her gallery, Mano, in Chicago, which is housed at Lacuna Lofts, and supporting the philanthropic and creative projects her family are involved in back in Oaxaca. Sabina is planning to attend university in Chicago next year.
Are you an NEHS alumni member? Consider submitting a blog to NEHS Museletter to share how you have been using the skills you developed as an NEHS member with current NEHS members.
Sabina Angeles
Instituto Blaise Pascale Chapter, Alumna
Instituto Blaise Pascale, Oaxaca, Mexico
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