SAN ANTONIO – She is a top scholar, entrepreneur and musician who uses her business as a way to help build culture.
You may have even seen her art on display around the Alamo City.
In today’s Great Graduate segment, we want to introduce you to Adriana Arellano, from Southside ISD.
“I have a small jewelry business on Instagram called ‘HiSunnyLeo,’ where I make jewelry art that is like loosely related to the culture that takes place around like Jalisco in Mexico,” Arellano said.
Adriana started her own business via Instagram – obviously it’s a way to make money, but for her, it’s much more than that.
“So basically, my goal is to try to put a little bit of a modern twist on it in hopes of expanding that culture here to where people like to like local areas here in town,” Arellano said.
Adriana’s art isn’t just the pieces on sale. She is award-winning here in San Antonio.
“I won the Go Public art contest where my artwork butterfly is showcased on one of the VIA busses that are probably cruising around downtown right now. And they recently gave me a tote bag just last Friday showing my artwork,” Arellano said.
And to say she is multi-talented would be an understatement.
“This winter, she was also part of the Winter Guard competition with our color guard, where their group ended up winning first in their division and state contests,” Mike Misko, high school band director, said.
Adriana is a top-tier student, businesswoman and artist.
“She’s part of a clarinet quartet that earns one of the highest ratings on the hardest difficulty piece. So they advance to the state contest,” Misko said.
As Adriana graduates from high school, she has a message for any student out there who is willing to listen:
“There’s no reason to think that you that you can’t learn how to create anything. If you want to learn how to do something, if you want to learn how to express, if you want to express yourself and share that with the rest of the community, just go for it,” Arellano said.