Huffman ISD Students Saddle Up For Annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Art Show

HUFFMAN, TX -- The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is right around the corner and and while most are dusting off their western duds, students in Huffman ISD were showing off some of their artistic skills for rodeo judges.

More than 300 students in grades pre-kindergarten through high school senior displayed their work at Copeland Elementary School during the district's Rodeo Art Show Open House on Jan. 9.

Rodeo officials were in Huffman ISD to start the judging process on Jan. 6 and choose the art that will hang in the gallery at NRG Center next month with art produced by students throughout the Houston area.

The art competition has long been a staple of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, displaying student artwork and awarding scholarships that can be used toward a college degree, as well as provide opportunities for students to participate in workshops.

"Some kids are just now finding out that they can draw, or they'll draw something cute and say 'OK, it's finished,' and I'll say, 'No, it's not,' and I'll keep pushing them, making them work on it longer than they would expect," Hargrave High School Art Teacher Nani Heslep told the Houston Chronicle. "When they're finished, they're surprised they could make something that is of that quality. They discover they have talents they didn't know they have.”

Huffman ISD student Sophie McGregor has participated in the Rodeo Art program since she was in kindergarten,

Last year, as a seventh grader, she won Best of Show and was able to attend the awards presentation as well as a workshop at the Glassell School of Art with one of her friends

"It's fun to draw something and see what everyone else draws and how the judges feel about it," Sophie said. "They all have different opinions, and it's fun to see what they like and dislike."

Image: kajsa via Flickr