Around 200,000 children and teens participated in the School Art Program this year, with an estimated 4,000 pieces of artwork submitted as part of the judged contest portion. From there, only 90 were selected to go up for auction on March 16. And out of this elite group will emerge two top victors: the Grand Champion Work of Art (whose winner receives a guaranteed premium of $38,000 in scholarship money) and Reserve Grand Champion Work of Art (who receives $19,000). Any extra proceeds raised beyond the guaranteed premium benefit the rodeo’s Educational Fund.

Representing many different visual arts disciplines—mixed media, colored drawing, 3D, painting, and monochromatic—these talented youngsters are constantly impressing the rodeo’s judges with their creative sensibilities. So what sets the winners apart from their peers?

“Skills are very important. We like to have originality, and the composition has to be good, the creativity,” says Cathy Brown, HLSR’s vice chairman of school art judges. An oil painter herself, she’s volunteered as a judge for the past decade. She had to pass a portfolio review to qualify—all judges must have a visual arts background—and started out carpooling to different school districts along with two dozen fellow judges.

“I was amazed, at the very beginning, how much I loved every minute of it,” Brown says. “I went out there for the first group [of students] and came in late. I woke my husband up, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, you can’t imagine the talent.’”

The judging process has since been streamlined, involving a series of regular, steering, and advisory judges, since they don’t have the ability to visit every district to analyze all 4,000 entries. But Brown’s admiration for the students’ gifts remains just as strong as it was her first day on the job.

She points out that all entrants are “still in their beginning stages of art,” and the judges see a lot of photorealistic works that place the students’ technical skills front and center. This year, two paintings took home the School Art Program’s biggest honors. The Kinkaid School’s Sophie Zhou won Grand Champion Work of Art for Nurture, while the Reserve Grand Champion Work of Art award went to Night at the Arena by Hyewon “Joy” Park of Elkins High School in Missouri City.

Nurture is an arresting portrait of a mother cow leaning in to gently nuzzle her calf’s ears, the little one gazing calmly and curiously at the viewer. Brown appreciates that it’s an “old, traditional kind of painting, colors, and values”—predominantly comprised of the orange and red hues of the animals’ fur. The tender scene reflects a rich emotional life and deep family connection, something us bipeds can certainly find relatable.

Park, the Reserve Grand Champion, chose to share a scene of a cowboy on horseback. She snapped a photo at a rodeo in San Antonio and used it as a reference point for a photorealistic oil painting.

“The composition is done well. Nothing’s running off the sides. She has a focal point,” Brown says.

Park went one step further by saturating the colors to create some visually interesting juxtapositions between all the different parts of the piece, and included a light source from a nearby building.

“Overall, it gave an effect that was distinct,” Park says. “All the elements, from the movement of the lasso to the details in the horse and the wrinkles in the shirt, I especially wanted to emphasize the colors from the audience, contrasting with the dark setting of the background.”

A senior, Park hopes to major in biology and wants to someday work as a part-time gallerist and show her paintings while also holding down a STEM career. Both she and her sister, Sowon “Grace” Park, have been painting since childhood, even studying rodeo art at the Glassell School of Art. They’ve each won Best in Show multiple times since middle school, but this is the first time Park’s paintings have placed during her high school tenure. She considers Night at the Arena one of her finest works to date, and describes her win as something quick and unexpected that popped up while admiring other students’ entries.

“It was such a blur to me. I don’t remember being up on that stage, but it was definitely such a big accomplishment,” Park says. “I was really grateful for everyone, especially my parents. I think without them, I couldn’t be there. It was a great experience, and I’m really honored.”