Downing, Simonson named tops in state for agricultre artistry

Rhiaunna Simonson and Emerson Downing both come from Phillips County ranch families and the wisdom they’ve learned from the prairie and applied it to art and each was recognized as best in the state for their respective age ranges at this year’s Ag in the Classroom Bumper Sticker contest.

Rhiaunna, the daughter of Carrie and Jesse Simonson of Whitewater, a third-grade student at Whitewater Public Schools, and Emerson, the daughter of Kelly and Shawn Downing and a fifth-grade student at Saco Public Schools, will both get to attend an award ceremony in Helena in the coming weeks as well as be recognized at Phillips County Ag Day in Malta on Friday, March 20 at Malta City Hall.

“Beef is Best in Montana” reads Rhiaunna’s bumper sticker. A total of three cows sit in a grass-green pasture, a horse looks on from the distance, bails of hay, a red barn and grey silo are the backdrop in front of a deep blue Montana sky.

“I just kind of thought it,” Rhiaunna said of her slogan. “I needed it to be about cows, so I drew a picture of cows going into a different pasture.”

Rhiaunna said that her father takes care of the family cows (along with Grandpa Lynn’s cows) and she is happy with how her artwork turned out. She said that while in the second grade, she entered the same art contest and drew a hayfield with a cow eating and a horse chasing said cow.

“I probably like this one better,” she said, “but the one last year was pretty detailed.”

Rhiaunna said she enjoys art, especially painting and sketching.

Both of the girls will get to go to Helena to receive their awards for the bumper stickers and though both said they had already been to the State Capitol, they both admitted they were looking forward to their latest trips.

“Be safe around Montana cattle or you might be in for a rough battle,” reads Emerson’s bumper sticker. Below the slogan, a cow, who looked somewhat peeved, has a thought bubble that reads “she is hurting my baby” and a little blond-haired girl pets a calf with a thought bubble reading “so cute.”

“Since I live out on a ranch, we have calves, and you have to be careful sometimes,” Emerson said, before recalling a time when she got in between a cow and her calf. “She charged and sometimes they try to get in your way.”

She said she thought the humor was a good way to convey her message and thus she chose to use a comic book motif for her bumper sticker. Emerson is no newbie when it comes to winning art contests as she won several awards at the Phillips County Heritage Arts Fair held in 2016 (she also took first place in the 3rd-4th grade portion of the Alpha Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International writing contest last year.)

Emerson said that oil and pastels are her favorite medium as far as art is concerned. She said she finished second place in the bumper sticker contest last year and next year will be her final year to compete.

“I will just do my best,” she said. “(This year) I didn’t know how I was going to do.”