Weber










This is one part of a 10-part series introducing this year’s YWCA of Alton Women of Distinction honorees. The YWCA of Alton will host the 28th annual Women of Distinction dinner on Thursday, April 19, at 6 p.m. at the Lewis and Clark Community College Commons in Godfrey.
ALTON – Angel Weber is a living example – art has the power to make wrongs right.
The Alton Middle School art teacher and 2018 YWCA Women of Distinction honoree faced many social injustices as a child, but was determined to fulfill the life she was told she couldn’t have.
And it was all following the voice of her mother, who grew up on a plantation in the deep South, to not let history repeat itself.
“My white school counselor told me that people of color could not be successful as a visual artist,” Weber recounts. “I had just received a full scholarship and grants to attend SIUE to study art and microbiology. She told me I needed to just graduate from high school and be glad that I was pretty for a dark-skinned girl, so I could get married and be a house wife instead of wasting money on an art studio degree.”
It was a disheartening interaction for a young girl with a driving passion. From the age of 4, Weber had dreams of being an artist.
“I was just 15 years old then, and it wounded me,” she says. “My mother told me I had everything I needed to prove her wrong because I had God on my side and talent. My mother is gone but all her words and the memories of all her sacrifices are like pearls on a necklace I will always cherish. Her words of encouragement and wisdom became my shield against the prejudices I would face through all my college years.”
Today, not only has Weber fulfilled her dream to become an accomplished artist, she’s planting powerful seeds in the minds of every student looking for a path or inspiration.
“Middle school is tough for all kids regardless of their economic or cultural backgrounds, therefore I am always aware that what I say or do will and may affect that young life,” she said. “I am an art teacher and I create original innovative art projects that engage students as teams and individuals that challenge their brains and talents. Art is not an outlet, it is the ‘key’ that turns on confidence, perseverance, responsibility, pride and a host of positive emotional learning skills in students. My advice to parents and my students all the time is that all things take time. Art takes time to come out beautiful and give your child time to be a child in order to grow beautifully.”
Among Weber’s vehicles for illustrating talents in diversity is her founding of the “Jubilee” tradition at AMS, which began 10 years ago as a way to celebrate Black History Month and Women’s History Month.
The annual production showcases students’ talents across the spectrum, from art to music, and beyond.
“I was so proud of the time, dictation and passion the students and some parents put into the show,” she said. “Black History Month makes some people uncomfortable because they never took the time to learn about all the people black and white who helped to create it. It was a jubilee indeed because I had always wanted students of every race to feel like they could and should help promote civil rights.”
Moving forward, Weber says she will continue provide opportunities she almost lost in her youth while encouraging students to seek out their dreams.
“I want my legacy to be that I used the arts to bridge the divide between races to help bring unity to our schools and community,” she says. “I will be honored if I am remembered at all as a person, but if I said or did anything that put anyone on the path to goodness or greatness I hope they smile at the memory.”
Nathan Woodside is a freelance photographer and reporter for the Telegraph.