Two students from Flower Mound High School and one from a Lewisville academy will have their art featured in Congressman Brandon Gill’s office after winning the 2026 Congressional Art Competition.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Celebrating 250 Years of America” in honor of America’s semiquincentennial.
Professional artist John Kokalis judged the artworks, which were submitted by public, private and homeschooled high school students from Texas’ 26th Congressional District.
First place went to Annika Niu, a student of Min Sun at the Academy of Ivy Art in Lewisville.
Her acrylic paint artwork, titled “Echoes of Revolution,” will be displayed in the Cannon House Office Building tunnel at the United States Capitol for one year.
The tunnel is traveled daily by members of Congress, their staff and thousands of visitors who can view the artwork from congressional districts across the country.
Each piece will be highlighted with the congressional district, title of the artwork and the name of the artist.
Niu’s artwork will also be featured on the House.gov Congressional Art Competition page and the Congressional Institute’s website.
She will have the opportunity to see the unveiling of her artwork at the national reception and exhibition in Washington D.C. on June 25 and get a tour of the White House.
The second place winner, Flower Mound High School senior Emily Zhang, submitted an artwork titled “Weaving Together America,” which was created with ink pen, graphite, colored pen and colored pencil.
Zhang is a student of Michelle Soto.
As the second place winner, Zhang’s artwork will be displayed in Gill’s Capitol Hill office for one year.
Third place went to Maanya Varma, a sophomore at Flower Mound High School and a student of Nancy Lawrence.
Her oil painting, titled “Riding Free,” will be displayed in Gill’s Flower Mound district office for one year.
Congressman Gill expressed his congratulations to the three winners via social media.
All participating student artists will receive a Special Certification of Congressional Recognition for their submissions.
Last year, a pair of students from Flower Mound earned the top two spots and a student from Argyle received third place honors.
