Annika Pentecost hadn’t submitted anything for competition before. So the young artist was surprised her piece, “Jefferson Memorial,” was selected in the Indiana Congressional Art Competition.
The Northeastern High School sophomore recalls being called to the office, thinking she was in trouble. She was excited to open the door and see her parents, principal and U.S. House constituent services representative, Abby Boyt, to share the good news.
“This was my first year submitting anything, anywhere,” said Pentecost.
Pentecost learned about the competition from her art teacher, Trisha Peters. Submissions from all nine districts were accepted from February through April 6, with “America 250” as the theme. Congressman Jefferson Shreve handpicked Pentecost’s piece to represent the sixth district.
Inspired by her school’s trip to Washington, D.C., Pentecost used a photograph of the memorial as a reference image to create a nighttime depiction of the memorial with a moody feeling. The same piece won first place in Richmond Art Museum’s student exhibition, which was featured in WWN’s May 6 issue.
Pentecost has been an artist all her life due to her grandmother.
“She is very influential for me; she taught me and my brother and made sure I had art classes, got paint, canvases and brushes for me to practice,” said Pentecost.
In addition to painting, she enjoys chalk pastels, charcoal and penciling. She loves that art has no rules or guidelines.
“It’s taught me anything can come out well, no matter what happens,” said Pentecost.
Pentecost and her mother will attend a banquet at the U.S. Capitol in June. There she will meet Congressman Shreve and see her artwork displayed in the Cannon House Office Building Tunnel, where it will stay for a year. She’ll also receive a complimentary copy of the 2026 Congressional Art Competition book featuring all winning entries from across the country.
A version of this article appeared in the May 27 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.