DALLAS – Music blasts from tall speakers as four boys jump around on stage to the beat of the rhythm. With sunglasses on, they travel around the stage, passionately rapping their verses at every corner. 

The Dallas Museum of Art hosted its second Teen Renaissance, the museum’s annual teen-curated student art exhibition, on Saturday. Coppell High School juniors Ishita Sisodia, Sujeong Oh and sophomore Kashish Vishwakarma got awarded for their artworks portraying the struggles of mental illness, with Sisodia and Vishwakarma presenting their artworks at an artist panel soon after. With junior Rith Bhattacharya and band, the INDIGOS, performing some of their original songs.

Sisodia’s oil painting, “Eternal Warrior,” addresses feminism, as it portrays the struggles women face in a constructive society. An illustration of a girl, CHS junior Jaime Welsh, centers the painting as she stands between a contrast of warm and dark colors.

“I want my viewers to have power and confidence in their choices, to not let anyone push them into a category,” Sisodia said. “Being a certain color or gender can pressure people to act a certain way – either personally or their environment, and that can take a toll on mental health.”

Vishwakarma’s, “Lost in Despair,” was also discussed at the panel. The piece is an acrylic painting about finding light in the dark, broken parts of a person. Oh’s piece, “Everyday is my Birthday,” was also featured in the exhibition, as it portrayed the support of loved ones during a hard time.

The girls worked for three to four months on their artwork, getting help from CHS art teachers Michelle Hauske and Cameron Tiede. With confidence in their work and the risk of chance, they applied for their works to be entered into the Dallas Museum of Art. A few weeks later they got a letter of acceptance and a date and time to be honored.

“I am very proud of them, mental illness is critically important and its important to talk about it,” Hauske said. “To see these students express it through their artwork and express what it really means to them on a different platform is amazing.”

Not only was art presented but also performed, as Bhattacharya and The INDIGOS presented seven songs from their first album, as well as some original solos sung by Bhattacharya.

Some songs played by the band are, “Conquistadors”, “gameover” and “Young King”. While Bhattacharya is a solo artist, he met the trio from Flower Mound during tennis tournaments and started collaborating with them for the past two years, finally getting their first gig at the Dallas Museum of Art.

“We had been talking with [Teen Advisory Council member Swarangi Potdar] about performing here for a couple of months and now to be able to finally do [so] is amazing,” Bhattacharya said. “I have always loved the performance aspect of music and to share my music with everyone is another step [toward] the dream.”

Bhattacharya and the INDIGOS plan to continue making music, as another album and a couple of singles are being expected to be released later this year on streaming services Soundcloud and Spotify.

“The world is a cold place, there are a lot of struggles internally and externally one faces,”  Bhattacharya said. “But when you have a vision, a passion [and] a drive then anything is possible. I was lucky to have a supportive team of loved ones and a platform to provide and perform on. From here on, it’s all about getting better, reaching to new heights.”