Storm Lake Artists Win Awards at BVU's 16th Western Iowa Salon Exhibit

Miriam Tejeda took Best of Show for her piece "Unresolved" at Buena Vista University's 16th annual Western Iowa Salon Exhibit on Feb. 26, 2026, as Storm Lake high schoolers won six of the 11 awards presented at the BVU Art Gallery opening.

The gallery opened with a reception tied to that weekend and the Western Iowa Salon Exhibit remains on display at the BVU Art Gallery through March 8. The exhibit showcased high school artwork from multiple regional schools and was presented as the 16th annual WISE show at the university gallery.

Participating high schools explicitly included Carroll High School, Hawley High School, Sibley-Ocheyedan High School, Sioux Center High School, South Central Calhoun High School, Westwood Community High School and Storm Lake High School. Student work from those districts was displayed alongside the six award-winning pieces from Storm Lake students.

Storm Lake winners listed among the awards were: Miriam Tejeda - Best of Show for "Unresolved"; Ryker Doebel - third place for "Freaky Wire Guy"; Briana Monzon Benavides (also spelled Benevides in a gallery caption) - Honorable Mention for "Cubita Cup," an assignment-piece created to depict one’s culture using objects, and the artist is noted as having grown up in Cuba; Wester Xiong - Honorable Mention for "Death Playing the Fiddle," described as a takeoff on the 1872 painting "Self Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle" by Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin; Jacqueline Hernandez - a juror’s mention for the graphic piece "Army Dreamer"; and Crishawn (appearing alternatively as Crinshaw in a caption) Falcam - a juror’s mention for "Bouncing Baller."

A gallery photograph caption listed Storm Lake artists present at the opening reception "from left: Lyric Lah, Eh Shee Wah, Briana Monzon Benevides, Jacqueline Hernandez, Wester Xiong and Crinshaw Falcam." The exhibit materials and caption show inconsistent spellings for Briana Monzon Benavides/Benevides and Crishawn/Crinshaw Falcam between the photo caption and the awards text, a discrepancy noted in gallery copy.

Storm Lake students' sweep of six awards represents a majority of the 11 awards presented at the show, underlining strong representation from Storm Lake High School among peers from Carroll, Hawley, Sibley-Ocheyedan, Sioux Center, South Central Calhoun and Westwood. The BVU Art Gallery continues to display the Western Iowa Salon Exhibit through March 8, offering the community access to the student works that earned regional recognition.