How To Enter

As part of the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program, students are invited to participate in an
annual art competition. Creating an entry is a valuable experience. It helps students to tie
together lessons about animal form and function, plant science, observation/data
collection, wetland habitats, and more. In the visual arts, students practice sketching,
painting with various media, colors and composition.

Contest Eligibility - Who May Participate?

  • K-12 students attending public, private or home schools in Wisconsin as long as they are U.
    S. citizens, resident aliens, or nationals. U.S. citizens attending schools abroad my enter
    through their legal state of residence. Students in scouts or other youth groups are also
    eligible.

  • The student who won first place in the National Junior Duck Stamp Contest the preceding
    year may not submit an entry in the current year's contest.

  • One entry per student

  • Teachers or supervising adults should encourage all students to participate in the Junior
    Duck Stamp program and enter the art contest. In the case of foreign exchange students,
    their artwork will be judged at the state level but if the artwork is awarded Best of Show,
    though it may be honored as a winner in that state, it may not be forwarded to the national
    contest.

Technical Requirements for Design and Submission of Entry

  • The physical size of submitted artwork must be 9 inches (vertical) by 12 inches (horizontal).

  • Image layout must be horizontal.

  • Entries must be less than a quarter inch thick.


  • Entries should not be matted.

  • There should be no border around the image.

  • A loose, detachable cover sheet may be laid over the art face to protect it during shipping.
    Spray chalk and pastel entries with a fixative to eliminate possible scuffing and smudging
    during transfer of artwork.

  • The entry may be multi-color, black and white, or a single color; it may be rendered in ink,
    paint, pastel, crayon, or pencil.

  • Techniques may include scratchboard, airbrush, linoleum printing, paper collage, dry brush,
    crosshatch, pointillism, etc. No photography, weak pencil or computer-generated art will be
    accepted.

  • No lettering, words, signatures or initials may appear on the front of the design. Inclusion of
    such markings will result in disqualification.

  • Design entries must be the contestant's original, hand-drawn creation and may not be
    traced or copied from published photographs or other artists' work.

  • Photographs taken by the student may be used as references in the development of the
    design. Computers or other mechanical devices may not be used in creating artwork.


Creating Your Own Design

  • Scenes should depict birds in their natural habitat; for example, sea ducks should be shown
    in ocean areas. Feather colors should be appropriate to the time of the year depicted by the
    environment. Decoratively designed birds are to receive equal voting consideration as
    realistic depictions, as long as they are anatomically correct according to the species
    depicted. Check out Bob Hines Ducks at a Distance: An online waterfowl identification guide.


Original Artwork Requirement

  • Students should not reproduce other artists' visual images and present them as their own
    creative work. Only work that is the unique creation of the individual student should be
    entered into competition.  Please do not submit work which has been directly or indirectly
    coped from any published source. Students limited by environment or experience may rely
    on published images as guides when producing a work. Especially when many references
    are used to develop an understanding of the subject represented in the entry, the entry
    must be the student's own creation and idea.



Contest Deadlines

  • Entries must be postmarked by midnight, March 15, 2010 for the Wisconsin contest.
  • You will need to fill out an Entry Form.
  • For grade groups III and IV, include Reference Form.

    Send your entry to the Wisconsin State Coordinator at the following address:

    Necedah National Wildlife Refuge
    Attn: Junior Duck Stamp Contest
    W7996 20th Street West
    Necedah, WI  54646

    For further assistance please contact Daniel Peterson, Wisconsin Junior Duck Stamp
    Coordinator by email or by calling 608-565-2551.


Judging

    All phases of the judging procedure will be open to the general public. Entries will be
    judged on the basis of original design, anatomical accuracy, artistic composition, and
    suitability for reproduction on a 1" by 1 1/2" stamp.

    Judging will continue until awards have been allocated for first, second, and third place,
    plus honorable mention. For Wisconsin there will be up to 100 awards: 12 first place, 12
    second place, 12 third place, and up to 64 honorable mentions. One student's design will be
    selected from the 12 first place winners as "Best of Show." Notification of winners will be
    made as soon as possible either via email or on this website.


Conservation Message

    Each student is encouraged, but not required, to write a short conservation message that
    expresses the spirit of what they have learned through classroom discussions, research,
    and planning for their Junior Duck Stamp Contest entires. Please limit the length of the
    conservation message to the space provided on the entry form.
    Note: Currently Wisconsin does not have a Conservation Message Contest, but is looking
    into it for the future.


Awards

    All entrants in the Wisconsin contest will receive certificates of participation and a full color,
    twelve-month Wisconsin Junior Duck Stamp Calendar.  Winners will receive special ribbons
    and a year's free subscription to the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association's magazine. In
    addition, the state's Best of Show winner will receive $100.  The national winner, one parent
    or guardian, and the winner's teacher will receive a free trip to participate in the First Day of
    Sale ceremony in late June/early July.

    The following cash prizes will also be awarded:

    National First Place: $5,000

    National Second Place: $3,000

    National Third Place:  $2,000

    National Top Ten:  $500


Return of Entries

    All entries will be returned to the students or schools. Non-winning entires will be returned
    by June 1. Winning stamp designs will be returned up to one year after the state contest
    date. For questions regarding your artwork please contact Wisconsin State Coordinator.  If
    artwork is unclaimed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not be obligated to trace the
    location of the artist to return the artwork. All unclaimed entries may be destroyed one year
    from the date of the contest. Every effort will be made to safely return artwork to the
    students. In some areas, teachers will be notified to pick up the work at a central location.


Special Provisions and Authorities

    By participating in the Junior Duck Stamp Contest, each student, teacher, and legal guardian
    acknowledges to the rights and authorities and willingly agrees to conditions set forth by
    the The Department of the Interior; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Please visit Special
    Provisions and Authorities to understand these rights and authorities.
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