With all of the talent that radiates the halls of West High, Bella Picardi and Jacob Bass were voted and announced to be the most talented by their senior peers on Feb. 21, 2025. Congratulations to Picardi and Bass for wearing the crown of being the most talented out of this year’s senior class.
Picardi, the female recipient of the most talented senior superlative, is very pleased about her win. She shares, “I am very happy that I got voted the most talented.” Growing up, Picardi found herself gravitating towards drawing the most and ended up being pretty successful at it. She states, “I was the type of kid that was drawing on everything. I sold drawings on the playground for 50 cents each, and I surprisingly made a lot of money.” Picardi specifically enjoys painting most of the time. Even with the struggles every artist experiences when creating an amazing piece of art, she pushes through in order to have that sense of accomplishment. She expresses, “I like to paint, but it is super stressful until the end. I love the satisfaction of seeing my finished work knowing how much hard work I put into it.”
Picardi has been dedicated to creating a successful and strong foundation for her future career as an artist. She states, “I plan to be an Art Curator or an Art Director in the future. I have applied for internships at the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian, so hopefully I get one of those this summer.” Picardi is hoping to get her bachelor's degree in art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been constantly making strides in her high school career to make herself applicable for opportunities and build her artistic portfolio. And this hard work has paid off. Picardi explains, “I received a 120,000 dollar merit scholarship for my portfolio and artist's statement. I was also invited to be a part of their Scholars Program. Less than 5% of first year applicants are invited to be a part of the Scholars Program.”
Picardi is most inspired by the artist Carravagio and really appreciates his type of work. She expresses, “My art is heavily inspired by Carravagio. Carravagio is my favorite painter of all time, his work is a staple of the Baroque Era. He uses dramatic lighting to make biblical stories come to life and seem much more personal.” Picardi was surrounded by art growing up and has almost always had a connection with it. She comments, “There are a lot of artists in my family. My cousin was a painter and had my baby picture in her paint box that she passed down to me, apparently I was her muse. She was also rumored to be a psychic, so maybe I was destined to be a painter.” Picardi has had many experiences that allowed her to showcase her artistic talent. She states, “I went to SCAD over the summer and took two college art classes, and I got perfect grades in both. I am very proud of the hard work I put into my craft over the summer. I also won the Rose Center Bravo Awards last year.” With Picardi’s numerous achievements, she has a lot of wisdom and information that could be extremely beneficial to students that are aspiring artists. She proclaims, “I would say that you should build connections. A big part of why I got a big scholarship is because I went to National Portfolio Events in Atlanta. These events let college reps review your work. The lady that reviewed mine was the head of the southern states admission department for SAIC. The more people you can meet and market yourself to the better.”
Bass, the male winner of the most talented senior superlative, states he feels “accomplished, as it showed me that I successfully displayed what I love doing in such a way that I may be known for it, sharing the appreciation for such a thing.” Bass has many different talents up his sleeve. He expresses, “I've always had a knack for cooking and building stuff, but as of the past few years, I've really picked up guitar and believe that is what I was picked for. I will continue to pursue any talent I have because if you are good at something, never give it up.” In order to make hard times a little easier, Bass picks up his guitar. He shares, “it can take you away from everything else and really help you relax and reset if you truly enjoy it.”
Bass is still planning out how to incorporate his talent of cooking and playing guitar into his future, but he knows that he definitely wants to continue them in some way. He states, “I will continue to play guitar and it may turn into something bigger than just a hobby. Also, cooking is a career option that I am heavily considering.” He is thinking of pursuing cooking through college or an online course. He further explains, “I may go to Walters State culinary program or an online culinary course such as Escoffier.”
Bass has had various inspirations that pushed him to take up these talents and constantly work on improving them to the best of his ability. He notes, “When it comes to cooking, it inspires me to be better and pursue it more when I cook for my family and it's really good and makes my family happy. When it comes to guitar, my main inspiration comes from the enjoyment me and my Dad get out of it (my Dad plays drums), but my other inspirations are Jimi Hendrix, Joe Bonamassa, and my guitar teacher, Billy Parvin.” His role models throughout this journey have been his guitar teacher and his dad.
Many West High students recognize Bass’ guitar skills from his history of being on the talent show. He feels a well-deserved sense of accomplishment after his performance, as this ended up being a great way to showcase a talent he has worked on for awhile. He proclaims, “Over the years, the talent shows have given me some exposure to performing live and it took a lot of effort and bravery to go up there, but it made me happy to share my talent in front of an audience like that. This last one coming up will hopefully be the best one yet.” Through his love for playing guitar, Bass has gained insight to the importance of maintaining that love for it when thinking about pursuing it in the future. He suggests, “When it comes to guitar, it's very variable in what you can do, as the music industry is tough nowadays and I'm not really thinking about getting into it, but some will, and in order to succeed with it, you must always enjoy it as a whole, otherwise, it becomes weightless and just a burden. Don't let that happen.”
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