Even though not every student at Camas High School (CHS) would particularly consider themselves to be artistic, there are many different forms of art that are not just paintings hung on walls: dancing, operatic singing, music, and more. Each person’s experience and journey of an art form is different, and some begin in the most unlikely of places. Three CHS students share their experiences of how art impacted their lives.

Sophomore Alia Romano’s dancing journey began when she was three. Her mother taught ballet in their basement as a side job, and she realized it was really fun and enjoyable, so later she started going to a studio, called DanceWorks Performing Arts. Now she is there six days a week from 5:30 to 9 pm, Sunday being the only day she takes a break. She does jazz, lyrical, ballet, and her favorite, contemporary.

“It’s more flowy, expressive, and free, so you don’t have to think about it.”

For Romano, dancing is her passion and she couldn’t live without it.

“I enjoy dancing with my friends and the freedom. It takes my mind off the stress overload and stuff at school and calms me down.”

For Sophomore Vivienne Petracca, the best time of day to draw and get her creativity flowing is at night. She enjoys sketching anything organic, her subjects ranging from reptiles to mammals, birds, etc. 

“Art for me is more like exploring the world than expressing myself. It’s a time for me to sit down and just sketch things rather than hanging them up in galleries.”

Petracca is greatly influenced by a Japanese exchange student her family hosted for a period of time, named Rio. 

“She was super into art and basically my older sister figure.”

Similarly, Junior Danielle Wilson’s source of inspiration in playing the clarinet was her uncle, who is a professional clarinetist, kickstarting her instrumentalist journey. She now plays four different instruments regularly: clarinet, violin, tenor saxophone, and bass clarinet. Balancing so many instruments is not easy, but luckily she has found a system that works for her, which includes switching between instruments based on where she is feeling sore the most. 

“I really like playing instruments, it’s really fun to be able to play with a bunch of people and see how it comes together,” Wilson said. “My favorite part about learning instruments is getting a hard piece of music and then getting really good at it over time.”

Working on hard pieces requires motivation, so she is constantly looking for input from more experienced players and how she can change her practice routine to improve. This learning process has definitely allowed her to grow in confidence.

“Playing clarinet makes me feel more secure, it gets rid of my self-doubt.”

These are just a few stories from students at CHS, and plenty of others are already far ahead in their journey with art, and some might just be discovering their artistic side.