Why Lenore Raquel Santos Lim is someone to look up to
They rose. They lifted others.
A printmaker, educator, and mentor whose artistic work has gone hand in hand with nurturing younger artists and sustaining Filipino cultural life.
Some artists leave behind beautiful works.
Lenore Raquel Santos Lim has also spent decades helping other artists find their way.
A graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts, Lim built a distinguished career as a printmaker, combining traditional techniques such as etching, lithography, and serigraphy with computer-aided processes.
The National Museum of the Philippines recognizes her as a pioneer of computer-aided art in the Philippines.
Her work has explored Filipino cultural memory, nature, womanhood, and human rights.
In 2024, the National Museum of Fine Arts mounted LEAVES, LACE, AND LEGACY: THE ART OF LENORE RS LIM — a major exhibition devoted to her artistic journey.
She also donated several works to the National Museum as Gifts to the Nation.
But what especially makes Lenore a Filipino to Look Up To is what she did beyond her own success.
She Didn’T Just Teach Art.
She Built Opportunities For Other Artists.
For two decades, she taught at the United Nations International School in New York, helping students develop their own artistic voices.
She regularly returned to the Philippines to conduct free art workshops, sharing techniques and experience with younger and aspiring artists.
She founded the Filipino Music and Art Foundation BC, an organization created to support aspiring Filipino artists.
She also launched Pagtitipon, a biennial Filipino-Canadian art exhibition in Vancouver — creating a platform where Filipino artists could exhibit their work, connect with audiences, and become more visible in the diaspora.
And through her leadership in Filipino arts organizations abroad, she helped strengthen communities where younger artists could learn, exhibit, and grow.
That Is How She Lifted Others:
by teaching what she knew,
by opening spaces for other artists,
and by helping Filipino art find audiences beyond the Philippines.
Her accomplishments have brought major recognition, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, the Pamana ng Pilipino Presidential Award, and the UP Alumni Association Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Award in 2026.
But awards tell only part of the story.
The measure of success is not only what we achieve — but what we help others become.
Lenore Raquel Santos Lim used her art not only to express herself, but to teach, preserve culture, mentor younger artists, and open doors for others.
She Did Not Only Create Art.
She Helped Create Artists.
Some artists leave behind beautiful works.
Lenore Raquel Santos Lim also spent decades helping other artists grow.
A pioneering Filipino printmaker, educator, mentor, and cultural advocate, Lim combined traditional techniques such as etching, lithography, and serigraphy with new digital processes.
The National Museum of the Philippines recognizes her as a pioneer of computer-aided art in the Philippines.
Her art explored nature, Filipino cultural memory, womanhood, and human rights.
In 2024, the National Museum of Fine Arts presented LEAVES, LACE, AND LEGACY: THE ART OF LENORE RS LIM and received several of her works as Gifts to the Nation.
But her legacy extends beyond her own art.
She Taught.
She Mentored.
She Created Opportunities.
She taught for two decades at the United Nations International School in New York, returned to the Philippines to conduct free workshops, and founded the Filipino Music and Art Foundation BC to help support aspiring Filipino artists.
Her career demonstrates something at the heart of this series:
Success is not only what we achieve.
It is also what we help others become.
That is why Lenore Raquel Santos Lim belongs among our FILIPINOS TO LOOK UP TO.
She did not only create art.
She Helped Create Artists.
Know a Filipino whose achievements are matched by the way they lift others?
Nominate them:
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