Highlighting Artists at BHS

A painting can take decades to finish. A song can take years to reach perfection. A sweater can take months to crochet. While they are all around us, fine arts tend to have a quieter exposure than some other extracurricular activities of students at Bellevue High School. Although many students get dressed up and come for our football games, few people publicize or attend Bellevue High’s art exhibitions. Despite this, the projects that they've been working on teach the importance of fine arts.

Our first artist is sophomore Benjamin Kim. His voice is his avenue of production. Starting his journey at a young age, Kim has grown to hone his voice with consistent practice and vocal training for years. This vocal training led to his participation in his activity of choice which is choir.

“I’ve been singing since I was in third grade. I feel like I have received minimal recognition for it,” Kim states.

Furthermore, choirs provide opportunities to participate in competitions such as the International Vocal Competition. This competition is one of the biggest international competitions in the vocal sector, and there are competitions like these for a variety of the fine arts. Kim received second place at this competition, highlighting his excellence in the choir.

Our second artist is sophomore Sreeansh Kokkonda. Kokkonda has experimented with a variety of drawing techniques and modes since he was in fourth grade. He started with pens and participated in multiple competitions. Later, he picked up sketching with pencils and was able to take classes that strengthened his strokes and he was mostly interested in realism art.

“I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember and every year it seems like I just keep getting better and keep getting less attention” Kokkonda states.

After pencil sketches, he took up calligraphy which is a highly specialized writing technique that requires a large amount of training to master. Overall, he aims to continue his calligraphy passion by possibly becoming a graphic designer.

Our final artist is sophomore Charlie Vilardi. Vilardi plays the guitar and has been fascinated by music since he was a kid.

“I got into guitar from my cousin one year on thanksgiving,” Vilardi states.

Ever since then, Vilardi has practiced at home and takes lessons from a private tutor. He likes to play contemporary music, intertwining different cultures inside of his music.

Although Vilardi has not competed or changed modes, he has been exploring the realm of singing recently, showing the versatility of these fine arts students.

The artists of Bellevue are so diverse and highly talented. By starting to recognize students such as Kim, Kokkonda, and Vilardi, we can make sure the fine arts receive the appreciation they deserve.