Cristal Sabbagh (she/her) was born in Columbus Ohio, and primarily raised in Buffalo Grove, IL and currently resides in Chicago, IL. In 2006 she received her Masters in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College, and in 1995 a BFA in Art Education at the University of Illinois, Champaign. She’s been a fine arts teacher at Adlai E. Stevenson High School since 1996. Her artwork has been shown in several group shows in Chicago and around the country: Alma Art Interiors in Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, The Ukrainian Institute of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Companion Gallery in Tennessee, Saltstone Ceramics Gallery in Seattle, as well as the Michiana Pottery Tour. In 2021 she had an interdisciplinary solo retrospective show at the Glass Curtain Gallery in Chicago. In 2023 she was a Makerspace (demonstrating ceramic artist) for the NCECA Conference in Cincinnati, OH. In 2023 her portrait mug of Jean-Michel Basquiat was published in the third edition of “Experience Clay” by Maureen Mackey.
Her performance practice, rooted in improvisation and Butoh, walks a line between the everyday, the divine, the personal, and the political. She embodies, in her art, transformational memories while simultaneously celebrating pop culture and the experimental. She challenges power structures and awakens viewers’ senses. Working both in a solo capacity and with collaborators, she’s equally attuned to individual perspectives and collective structures. Since 2019 she has curated and performed in Freedom From and Freedom To as an opportunity to combine most of her creative interests in a risk taking and vulnerable way. It uses an ensemble of dancers and improvising musicians that are remarkably diverse in their approaches to dance, instrumentation, and backgrounds. These events are quarterly at Elastic Arts and it’s been performed in other venues including: Steppenwolf, Compound Yellow, Comfort Station, Alma Art Interiors, the MCA, Ragdale, Honey Pot Performance, and more. “You can’t predict what will happen,” says Sabbagh. “You have to trust the ingredients and see what they create. There’s a certain energy in the room, a truthfulness. When the synergy clicks, it’s incredibly special. I try to hold onto that feeling as long as I can—especially given how hard the world can be. It feels spiritual.”
In 2021 Cristal was awarded a 3Arts/ Make a Wave Artist grant, in 2021 and 2023 she was awarded an Individual Artist Program grant from DCASE. In January of 2025 Cristal was included in New City’s Top 50 Players issue: People Who Really Perform in Chicago, in their Dance category. In March of 2026 Freedom From and Freedom To was reviewed as the best improvised music and dance happening in the Chicago Reader.
Photo Credit: William Frederking
