Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Joshua Washington, a senior at Pasadena Memorial High School, sold his Grand Champion painting “Between Boots and Moccasins,” for a record-breaking $525,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s school art auction on March 15, 2026.
Several record-breaking auction items were sold at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo over the weekend, with two sales records set for student art projects.
Pasadena Memorial High School senior Joshua Washington’s “Between Boots and Moccasins,” which had been named Grand Champion for this year’s rodeo student art contest, sold for $525,000, a rodeo record and nearly double the previous year’s sale.
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Joshua Washington’s “Between Boots and Moccasins,” painting. Winner of the 2026 Grand Champion Work of Art at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
“This painting is about cultural harmony,” Washington said in a news release from the rodeo. “I thought this would touch people’s hearts.”
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That was one of several record-breaking auction sales since Friday. Here are some of the other major sales:
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Reagan Miller of Seagraves sold her Grand Champion lamb for a record-breaking $1 million at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Junior Market Lamb & Goat Auction on March 13, 2026.
Million-dollar baby sheep
At Friday’s Junior Market Lamb & Goat Auction, the Grand Champion Market lamb sold for $1 million, the highest price ever paid for a lamb at the Houston rodeo.
Reagan Miller of Seagraves exhibited the record-setting lamb. Last year, the Grand Champion lamb sold for $450,000.
This year’s Reserve Grand Champion lamb was that of Raider McPhaul of Big Lake, which sold for $310,000, another rodeo record.
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Paizlee Akins of Whitesboro raised the Grand Champion goat which sold for $450,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Junior Market Lamb & Goat Auction on March 13, 2026.
Paizlee Akins of Whitesboro raised the Grand Champion goat, which sold for $450,000. Briggs Bowers of Fredericksburg sold the Reserve Grand Champion goat for $250,000. Both of those sales, too, were rodeo records.
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
The Grand Champion pen of young chickens, called broilers, exhibited by Bree Dooley of Fayette County sold for $432,000 during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Junior Market Poultry Auction on March 14, 2026.
Record-breaking poultry
The Grand Champion pen of young chickens, called broilers, exhibited by Bree Dooley of Fayette County, sold for $432,000 during Saturday’s Junior Market Poultry Auction, setting another rodeo record. Khloe Leasure of Washington County set a record for Reserve Grand Champion broilers with an auction sale of $250,000.
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Lake Creek’s Garrett Carr sold the Grand Champion turkey for a rodeo record of $316,000 during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Junior Market Poultry Auction on March 14, 2026.
Lake Creek’s Garrett Carr sold the Grand Champion turkey for a rodeo record price of $316,000.
Student art auction
As well as Joshua Washington’s $525,000 painting, Mingyi Li of Clements High School in Sugar Land sold her Reserve Grand Champion colored drawing “Head On” for $300,000.
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Mingyi Li of Clements High School’s Reserve Grand Champion colored
drawing “Head On” sold for $300,000 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s school art auction on March 15, 2026.
“I wanted to capture the spirit of pushing forward, even when the odds are against you,” Li said. Her drawing sold for $100,000 more than the previous year’s Reserve Grand Champion.
Where does the money go?
While the winners earn a portion of their auction sales, the majority of the money goes toward continuing education investments, according to the rodeo.
For example, Washington will receive $40,000 for his Grand Champion painting, while Li will earn $25,000, according to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Miller’s million-dollar lamb, too, will earn her a guaranteed premium of $45,000.
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After the premiums are paid to each of the contestants, the net proceeds from the auctions go toward the Houston rodeo’s educational fund, which provides scholarships and other education investments for Texas children.
In December, the rodeo announced its investment of $30 million for Texas students and education, $11 million of which went toward the junior show exhibitors. A total of $15 million went toward scholarships.
Since 1932, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo says it has invested $660 million in students and education.
This year’s Junior Market Barrow Auction and Junior Market Steer Auction are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, respectively. The top two steers at last year’s auction each sold for more than $650,000.
