• U.S. Capitol to display winning art piece for a year
Jacquelyn Jeske, a 2026-27 senior at Star Valley High School, has earned the 2-D Congressional Art Award for 2026. The office of Wyoming House Representative Harriet Hageman selected Jacquelyn’s work from 25 top contenders throughout the State of Wyoming, and the young artist now has her piece on display at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington DC.
“I haven’t fully processed it, even though I have seen it [hanging at the Capitol],” said Jacquelyn. It’s just crazy to me! I feel very honored!”
Adam Guild, who teaches art at SVHS shared that this is a “very tough competition with over 60 schools and 3000 pieces of 2-D art. It is an outstanding accomplishment!” Jacquelyn is the second student from SVHS to receive the honor, after Jentry England who received it in 2023.
The inspiration for Jacquelyn’s charcoal piece was a photograph that she had taken of her family’s small herd of cattle last winter. “I love doing animals. That’s kind of my favorite art subject. I chose one photo and cropped it down, because I didn’t want the entire photo, but I liked this section.”
“Her piece was very well done,” said Guild. “The proportions on the cows were correct and the contrast was strong. It was a unique composition, so it was interesting to look at. One of the things that I think helped it get the top award is that the tag in the ear has a 307 on it and that would help it represent Wyoming.”
Jacquelyn and her parents, Dan and Angie Jeske, traveled to Washington D.C. in June for the celebration that honors the young artists from throughout the nation whose art has been selected to hang in the Capitol.
After meeting Representative Hageman, Jacquelyn attended an awards ceremony, enjoyed a private tour of the building and toured the city with her parents, visiting notable places like the Holocaust Museum and other Smithsonian buildings, memorial structures and Arlington National Cemetery.
She particularly enjoyed visiting the Washington and Lincoln Memorials. “There was one night, dad and I took electric scooters, and we rode them to the Lincoln Memorial in the dark and it was really cool to see it all lit up.”
In addition to art, Jacquelyn has participated in musical productions and the state drama competition. After graduation, she plans to pursue a post high school program working with horses and possibly some theater.
Jacquelyn is grateful for the guidance of Guild and her middle school art teacher, Denise Frazier. “If I would have had different teachers, who knows if I would have stayed in art? Guild is always so open-minded to art pieces. He lets us do whatever we want to do and not every person has that type of art teacher. They really did provide so much for me to get me to this place.”
