 During his California years, Silva continued to exhibit his work both internationally and nationally, returning often to the South in the 1920s to paint the Carolina Low Country.In 1915 he won a gold medal at the Mississippi Art Association and had one-man exhibits in 1916 at the Mississippi Art Institute, Minneapolis Art Society, and Milwaukee Art Institute.A year later the Southern States Art League, an organization that he co-established, sponsored his exhibit at the Telfair Academy in Savannah.