42nd Annual Capitol Rotunda Art Show Visitor’s Choice Award Winners

This year, we received over 1,200 public votes for our 42nd Annual Capitol Rotunda Art Show Visitor’s Choice Awards, the highest participation we’ve seen to date. Even more meaningful, every painting in the show received votes, reflecting how widely the work resonated with visitors!!  We’re happy to share the 2026 Visitor’s Choice Award winners:
1st Place ($200) “Ol’ Blue Eyes” by Carol HasBrouck Browning
2nd Place ($100) “The Poser” by Shelly Johnson
3rd Place (Blick Art Materials Merchandise Award) “South of Cascade” by Sharon Herther
4th Place (The Merri Artist Merchandise Award) “Henrietta the Hedgehog” by Tamara Burnett
Honorable Mentions
5th Place: “The Family That Digs Together” by Beth Trott
6th Place: “Catching Some Z’s XVIII” by Lauren Johnson

A special thank you to Blick Art Materials and The Merri Artist for supporting this year’s awards!!! And a sincere thank you to all participating artists. This show is entirely volunteer driven and truly a labor of love. It exists because IWS artists are willing to share their work with the broader community in such an open and accessible space.

SHOWS and EXHIBITS

Southwest Members:

Twila Kadel has a solo ‘Telling Stories’ at the Kuna Arts and History Center until October 2nd.  Kuna Arts & History Center 270 S Orchard Ave, Kuna ID.  She also has a Bird show on the catwalk at the Riverside (2900 Chinden Boulevard) September through October. You can find examples of her paintings on Instagram at kadeltk.

Anne Watson Sorensen invites you to stop by her Boise Art in the Park Booth #30 on Sept 11, 12th (10-8), and Sept 13th (10-5). “Always a joy to see and share with my IWS and PAPI friends what I have been creating during this pivotal Sabbatical year!  Thank you for your support and encouragement.”

Two of Anne Watson Sorensen’s artworks were juried into and now hanging at the Friedman Memorial Airport in the Sun Valley area until October.  A beautiful show!  Fly or drive in! 1616 Airport Circle, Hailey, ID  83333.  Also find Anne’s prints at the Sawtooth Gallery at Redfish Lake (Stanley) now through September.

Anne Watson Sorensen feels deeply honored to have received the City of Meridian’s 2026 Excellence in the Arts – the Tammy deWeerd Award on August 26th.  She is also thrilled that her watermedia painting “Threshold of Silence” was juried into the NWWS International Exhibition by juror DongFeng Li.  The online only exhibition will be held Oct 30 – Dec 11th by registering at NWWS.org.

Shelly Johnson is pleased to share that her painting “The Poser” (the yellow-headed blackbird) was accepted into the 53nd Annual Rocky Mountain National Watermedia exhibition, which will be held at the Center for the Arts Evergreen in Evergreen, Colorado from September 10 to October 17, 2026. Opening Reception and Award Ceremony is September 10, 2026 from 4 to 7 pm.

Linda Aman- I am pleased to announce my painting “Beyond the Rim of Light” received the Ed Robinson Award, Idaho Watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror JJ Jiang. The painting will travel with the other award winners throughout Idaho Galleries.

Eastern Members:

Gloria Miller Allen and Linda Aman will have a two woman show at the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho. Opening is July 24, and it will run through late September.  They will debut their book. CLEVER ENDEVORS at their exhibit. The book will sell for 35.00. Sold through Amazon. The book is educational, has full color images of their work; with mini essays, poetry, inspiring words, personal stories,, and bits of humor.

View the 2026 IWS Juried Membership Exhibition, juried by nationally renowned artist, JJ Jiang. Click any image to enlarge it and view in the slide show. 

Partners, Sponsors, & Donors

IWS would like to thank our partners, sponsors, and donors for the 2026 Juried Membership Exhibition

Partners: Roots Family History; The Riverside Hotel and Water’s Edge Gallery

Sponsors: Blick Art Materials; Jerry’s Artarama; M Graham and Co.

Donors: Catalyst Arts Collaboration; Cheap Joes Art Stuff ; The Merri Artist; Idaho Art Gallery; QOR Artist Watercolor; Holbein; Studio 77; Princeton Art Brush Co.; Strathmore