Houston private school student breaks record at 2025 Rodeo art auction

Sophie Zhou holds up her painting "Nurture."

Sophie Zhou (center) broke the record at the annual rodeo auction by selling her painting, "Nurture," at $275,000.

Courtesy of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Sophie Zhou, a student at the Kinkaid School, broke the record for largest sale ever at the 2025 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo School Art Auction on Sunday, Match 16. Her painting, "Nurture," was bought for $276,000 and won the Grand Prize.

The painting depicts a mother cow comforting a calf under an angelic light. Zhou's father initially photographed the scene, which led to her recapturing the image in her painting.

“When I first saw the photo my dad took, I was really inspired by the lighting,” Zhou said. “I absolutely loved how this nurturing relationship between the mother and her calf... it was really beautiful, and I wanted to display that in my artwork.”

The donor who left with the painting was Shelley Mulanax, who also purchased the previous record winning painting, “Our Last Roundup,” created by Mia Huckman of Lamar CISD in 2023 for $275,000. Other donors include Kristina and Paul Somerville; J Alan Kent Development; Julie and Alan Kent; Jennifer, Joe, and Bob Van Matre, and other members of the Mulanax Family.

“I have been doing this forever,” Mulanax said. “It is my heritage and something I have always done. We just love helping the children,” Mulanax said. “This is just an amazing organization. We always continue our legacy and the legacy of Rodeo.”

Money raised in the art auction goes toward scholarship and educational costs. Zhou plans to attend The University of Chicago, Georgetown University, or the University of Texas to study political science or economics before going into corporate law or investment banking.

Second place was won by Hyewon (Joy) Park, whose painting "Night at the Arena" shows an action-packed calf-roping. The Reserve Prize sold her piece for $200,000, and plans to work in pediatric dentistry and open an art gallery of her own. Ninety pieces were selected for the auction out of 200,000 entries. Zhou is the first private schooler to win the auction.

The annual school art competition is part of a half-century of art activism by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, with school children across the state participating. Those selected earn scholarships, travel to summer workshops and display artwork in the Hayloft Gallery during the Rodeo.

Art wasn't the only thinking breaking rodeo records this weekend. Madden Wise of Brownsville sold his lamb for $450,000, while Brisco Black of Zephyr sold a goat for $400,000, a world record.

rodeohouston visual-art

Remembering the Flood

Texan wins Pulitzer Prize for heartbreaking story of Guadalupe flood

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Aaron Parsley has won a Pulitzer Prize for "Where the River Took Us," published days after the flood.

Many Houstonians know someone who was impacted by the July 4, 2025 flood that killed more than 100 people. But one story cut through the chaos with an emotionally raw, first-person view of what actually happened. Texas Monthly senior editor Aaron Parsley published his survival story in "Where the River Took Us." On Monday, May 4, he has won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

The prestigious journalism award has 23 winners each spring. For features, the judges chiefly consider "quality of writing, originality and concision."

"Where the River Took Us," brought readers moment-by-moment from Parsley's family house on the Guadalupe River, to family members including Parsley rushing down the river itself, to reunification for most of the family and grief for his 20-month-old nephew, Clay, who drowned.

Parlsey renders each scene with arresting detail, recalling dialog and individual pieces of refuse raging past in the water: branches, furniture, a car with headlights still on. Adding to the immersion were photographs by Jordan Vonderhaar and Parsley's family. Published just days after the flood, the account was one of the first deep looks at what happened for readers who had only seen general news coverage and disorganized posts on social media.

“In a matter of hours, Aaron uncovered the singular experiences of family members wrenched from one another and thrown into a raging flood," said Texas Monthly editor in chief Ross McCammon in a story announcing the Pulitzer award. "He then braided those stories together to convey what a tragedy of this sort actually feels like. This is a deeply reported story of horror, courage, and love, and it is one of the finest magazine stories ever written.”

“I am grateful to my family for trusting me and to everyone at Texas Monthly for offering their support, talent, and meticulous care during the process of writing, reporting, and all that goes into putting this story into the world,” said Parsley. “It means everything to me, and I’m deeply proud to be a part of the Texas Monthly team.”

journalism floods natural disaster