Former Cal U. athlete’s murals adorning Wheeling schools’ walls
Courtesy of Joselyn King
Artist Vondel Bell, a California University of Pennsylvania alumnus, shows off the portrait of Nelson Mandela he painted on a wall at Bridge Street Middle School.
Courtesy of Joselyn King
Artist Vondel Bell, a California University of Pennsylvania alumnus, works to complete a portrait-mural at Bridge Street Middle School.
Courtesy of Joselyn King
Artist Vondel Bell, a California University of Pennsylvania alumnus, works to complete a portrait-mural at Bridge Street Middle School.
WHEELING, W. Va. – Vondel Bell always wanted to draw on the walls when he was a child, and he usually got punished when he did.
Now an adult, the former football star at Wheeling Park High School and California University of Pennsylvania is an artist who gets paid for painting walls, shoes, T-shirts, logos and most anything else he wants.
Bell’s current project is at Bridge Street Middle School, where he has been retained to draw and then paint larger-than-life portraits of noteworthy individuals in the school’s hallways. Later, he will add inspirational quotes said by the individuals.
Portraits of Nelson Mandela and Albert Einstein already are complete. Currently in the works are others of basketball athletes LeBron James and Diana Taurasi, baseball player Jackie Robinson, football player Peyton Manning, gymnast Simone Biles, tennis player Serena Williams and soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. The individuals to be depicted were selected by Jessica Broski-Birch, principal at Bridge Street Middle School.
Bell’s favorite is the highly-detailed depiction of James.
Each of the portraits stands over 6-feet-tall. Bell said these are considerably larger than the portraits he typically paints at 24 inches by 30 inches.
“I like doing portraits and people’s faces,” he said. “It’s what I like doing most.”
He remembers his first portrait was of a Seminole indian, and he painted it using coffee while in kindergarten class.
Bell, 26, is a 2012 graduate of WPHS. He majored in graphic art at Cal U, and was a starting cornerback for the school’s football team before graduating in 2018. He also had a National Football League tryout with the Cleveland Browns.
He doesn’t know from where his artistic talent came. He only knows he realized his love for painting, drawing and creating started early.
“I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, maybe 4 or 5 years old,” Bell said. “It came from no one really. It just came naturally. I did it on my own.”
Today, Bell not only paints portraits, but also does logos.
He paints and customizes shoes and football cleats, and is starting his own clothing line that can be viewed on his Instagram account.
Bell started work on the Bridge Street murals project last week, and has been working through the evenings until about midnight. The portraits were expected to be completed soon.
His next project is another portrait for the Mel Blount Celebrity Roast in Pittsburgh.
He also will be showing some of his work at a friend’s art show in New York City on March 22.
The life of an artist suits him, he said.
“I get to do what I love,” Bell said.