The main objective of Gianna Fasano's painting was to draw attention to three women she felt had been overlooked by history.

The Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) senior could not have envisioned that her work will be displayed in a location traveled by some of the most powerful people in the world.

Gianna's piece, titled "American Heritage," won the 2025 Congressional Art Competition for high school students in Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District, Rep. Lloyd Smucker announced.

Gianna's creation will appear in the 43rd annual Congressional Art Exhibition and will be shown for a year in the Cannon Tunnel, a pedestrian walkway between the Cannon House Office Building and the U.S. Capitol building that is traversed by members of congress and the public.

"I was honestly really surprised (to win)," Gianna said. "I remember being kind of speechless because they called my work, and I couldn't believe it. I was really happy, and I'm super proud that such an important piece gets to be hung in the Capitol for a year."

Gianna's prize-winning portrait, crafted with acrylic paint in a graphic style, features trailblazers Maria Tallchief, Susan La Flesche Picotte, and Wilma Pearl Mankiller on fictional covers of American Heritage, a real history magazine.

L-S art teacher Scott Cantrell said American Heritage was commonly collected by high schools in the 1960s. When the school library needed to make room for more current publications, Cantrell brought approximately 350 issues of American Heritage to his classroom. Gianna saw the magazine, and it inspired her painting.

Tallchief was the first major prima ballerina in America. La Flesche Picotte was the first Native American to earn a medical degree, and Mankiller served as the first female chief of the Cherokee nation.

Cantrell said, "(The painting) was about our American history. It wasn't just a pretty picture. It had history. It had context. It had background. It had a point of view. The substrate that it's on gives an added interest to it. I knew she had a winner."

Gianna, a dancer who had the lead role in a production of "The Nutcracker" last winter, was familiar with Tallchief. She said she conducted research to find other "American women who made their mark, but no one had really heard about because they have been overlooked." Gianna added, "I'm just happy because I felt like I was putting them back on the history books by making this piece, and I'm just so happy it will be hung in the Capitol, because it really needs to be."

Gianna did not design the painting with that goal in mind. It was a case of "mother knows best." "My mom (Amy) originally suggested I enter," said Gianna. "She said even if it doesn't win, at least it will be shown somewhere, which is important."

Earlier in the school year, Gianna won two silver awards and five honorable mentions at the Lancaster County Young Artists (LCYA) awards. "The art department at L-S is great," she said. "I'm really thankful to have all the opportunities it offers. Mr. Cantrell and Mrs. (Margaret) Lau especially are two wonderful people who have pushed me to expand on all my art and grow conceptually."

Cantrell helped Gianna become the first L-S student to put together an AP portfolio. "Gigi is really a go-getter," Cantrell said. "I always say I will match (the students') interest and their effort. She's been hard to keep up with. She's one of the few students I've had a hard time keeping up with. It's appropriate she wins major awards and is recognized not only for her talent but her effort."

In the fall, Gianna will attend Dickinson College, where she plans to major in an environmental science-related field and minor in studio art and dance. She is already thinking about her next art projects. "I have a few big ideas," said Gianna. "I want to make some more stuff about climate change and the environment, because they are things I'm really passionate about. I feel like if I make really big things, that will maybe draw people's attention to the issue and make an impact."