The first ribbons of the 2023 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo have been awarded and a Grand Champion crowned.
It's Kate Sherwin, 18, from Montague, a town of about 300 in Montague County.
She entered the Stock Show Art Contest for the very first time, and the judges picked her Deere Friend painting as the best of more than 1,800 entries.
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"I honestly didn't expect to get Grand Champion. The other competitors have had much more experience and have been taught. It was so nice to be able to relate to other artists my age," she wrote in an email to NBC5.
Sherwin says her first idea to submit a drawing didn't work out.
"At that point, I almost didn't even enter the contest. The day before it was due I decided to paint something. It ended up lasting until the very last minute. The painting is inspired by my friend's dog. Having experience in painting dog portraits, I knew this would be something I could get done fast," she wrote.
The Santo Jo ISD high school senior says she is self-taught, through and through. She's never taken a class but that might change in college.
She'll put her more than $10,000 in scholarship earnings toward tuition at Texas Tech next fall where she'll major in Animal Science and take a minor in Ag Business.
Stop by the concourse of the Amon G. Carter Exhibits Hall to see the entries from the 2023 art contest finalists.
