TN's Jr. Duck Stamp Art Contest
We encourage educators, youth leaders, and scout leaders to consider the Jr. Duck Stamp Art Contest. It provides a science-based arts curriculum that emphasizes conservation of wetlands and waterfowl for students in grades K-12.
When students submit an entry in the Tennessee competition, they have the chance to win some great prizes and even attend an awards ceremony at the in Union City, TN.
Any child in grades K-12 in Tennessee can participate.
鈥� Every entry will receive a Certificate of Participation.
鈥� 100 Tennessee students (25 in each grade group) receive beautiful first, second, third, or honorable mention ribbons (groups are K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12).
鈥� 36 first, second and third place winners will also receive special engraved Junior Duck Stamp plaques.
鈥� The Tennessee Best of Show winner receives also receives a $1,000 check from TWRF, a framed Federal Duck Stamp print, and their artwork on the state waterfowl stamp, and will move on the national competition.
TN has one of the most successful and prestigious Jr. Duck Stamp Programs in the nation, mostly due to our great partners, which are listed below. Please take time to check out their websites!
Friends of West TN National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Check out the Jr. Duck Stamp Art Contest website for general information, youth/educator curriculums, eligible species list, entry form, reference form, rules and regulations, and more!
You can discover more by watching the video's below.
Tennessee Jr. Duck Stamp Waterfowl Passport - Activity Packet!
Jr. Duck Stamp General Information 1
Jr. Duck Stamp General Information 2
- (advanced)
- (beginners)
Art Contest Rules
- Design entries must be contestant's original, hand-drawn creation and may not be traced or copied from photographs or other artists' works.
- Image must be of a native North American duck, swan or goose (refer to Eligible Species list).
- Any style of artwork may be submitted as long as the eligible species can be recognized by its unique characteristics. Styles of artwork submitted can range from realism to representational abstract, including but not limited to cubist, caricature, impressionistic, pop, ethnic, optical, etc.
- 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 drawing, painting, scratch-board, airbrush, linoleum printing, paper collage, etc.
- No photography or computer-generated art will be accepted. Computers or other mechanical devices may not be used in creating or rendering the artwork.
- The physical size of submitted artwork must be 9" x 12" and less than 录" thick.
- Image layout must be horizontal.
- Entries may not be matted or framed. 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.
- There should be no border around the image.
- No lettering, words, signatures or initials may appear on the front of the design. This includes letters on signs and numbers on bands. Inclusion of such markings will result in disqualification.
- All entries must include a completed and signed entry form. Students in grades 7-12th MUST complete and submit a reference form. It is recommended that screen shots or images of any reference photos used are included in your submission.
- See the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program and Contest brochure for detailed contest rules.
DEADLINE for submitting your artwork is March 15. Artwork needs to be in the Reelfoot NWR office by March 15th, not postmarked by March 15th. Please give yourself time to mail in your entry so that it arrives in time. The judging is held the week after the deadline.
BEFORE YOU MAIL, please make sure that all four corners of your entry form and taped the the back of your artwork. If you have a reference form, please leave it loose in the package. If you are sending a large stack of artwork, please do the same. The reference forms do not have to be clipped to the artwork as long as the students name is on the reference form. It's best if you stack the references forms all together, separate from the artwork.
Please double check that all artwork is 9x12 and that every piece of artwork has an entry form associated with it.
Send all artwork to:
Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge
4343 Hwy 157
Union City, TN 38261
Contact Tara Dowdy, Tennessee Jr. Duck Stamp Coordinator, if you have additional questions or would like a FREE Jr. Duck Stamp Program at your school and are within the counties of Obion, Lake, Dyer, Lauderdale, Tipton or Haywood counties.
Judging
Five different judges are chosen each year for the Jr. Duck Stamp Judging day. These judges come from organizations such as the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Ducks Unlimited, Discovery Park of America and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. Judges have been former and current art teachers, ornithologists from local colleges, wildlife photographers, outdoor enthusiasts, etc. We take this judging very seriously, but the winners lie within the preference of these 5 judges. Judges are asked to look for things such as how the art would look on a stamp, accurate field markings and anatomical accuracy. One judge may like more of an abstract type of art, while another may prefer hyper realistic. Judges are instructed to NOT discuss any of the artwork to each other.
Artwork is displayed on multiple tables in the Reelfoot NWR classroom one age category at a time. K-3 is always judged first. Before judges can begin, judges have to thoroughly look at all of the artwork. Once the artwork is viewed, judges are given 10 poker chips. Judges lay their chips down on THEIR favorite pieces of artwork. Artwork with poker chips laid on them are immediately taken off the table and placed in a "chosen" stack. Only one chip can be placed on a piece of artwork. If two judges like the same piece of artwork, and one judge has already placed their chip on it, the other judge has to choose another piece of art. Once judges have placed all of their chips down, the remaining pieces of artwork are gathered and filed away to be mailed back to the teachers. The 50 chosen pieces of art are placed back on the table. Judges are now given 5 poker chips. 25 will be chosen, 25 will not be chosen. The 25 not chosen are filed away to be mailed back to the teachers, while the 25 chosen move forward. These 25 pieces of art will be either Honorable Mention, 3rd, 2nd, or 1st place winners. Judges are now given 3 chips, 15 pieces of art are chosen, the 10 that are not chosen are marked as Honorable Mentions. Judges are given 2 chips, 10 pieces of art are chosen, the 5 that are not are marked Honorable Mention. Judges are given 1 chip, 5 are selected and 5 are held aside. Now we really start to narrow down! Our judges take a seat and are given score cards. Our volunteers and staff stand in front if the judges and step forward, one at a time, to judge the 5 selected pieces of artwork. The three highest scores are labeled as 1st place winners! Remember those 5 not selected that were set aside? Those are now added to the pieces of art remaining and combined to battle for 2nd and 3rd place. The next 3 highest scores become 2nd place. Now we have 4 pieces of art remaining. The next three highest scores become 3rd place! The last piece of artwork left is marked as Honorable Mention.
This entire process is done three more times, for 4-6th grade, 7-9th grade and 19-12th grade. Each age group has 25 winners; (16) Honorable Mentions, (3) 3rd place winners, (3) 2nd place winners, and (3) 1st place winners, totaling 100 Winners!
Once we judge each grade category, we then take ALL of the 1st places winners from each age category and place them on the table. There are 12 pieces of artwork - (3) 3rd place winners from each grade category. Judges are asked again to take a good long look at the artwork before beginning. They are given 1 chip. 5 pieces of artwork are chosen. Judges sit down again with their score cards, volunteers hold up the 5 pieces of artwork in front of the judges while they study each of the 5 pieces of artwork up close. The highest score from the top 5 is awarded with Best Of Show winner! The Best of Show winner is called at that time and congratulated by the TN Jr. Duck Stamp coordinator, as well as all 5 judges.
This whole process is very formal and taken very seriously by all staff, volunteers and judges. These judges sometimes drive hours to participate and the event may take up their entire work day.
Directly after the judges depart, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff and volunteers begin scanning in the artwork, entering all of your information, preparing letterheads, double checking name spelling and pronunciation, preparing for the upcoming awards ceremony, matting your artwork, adding the plastic covering and velcro so it can be safely displayed, and more - it's all hands on deck for days!
Awards Ceremony
The top 100 winners (25 from each age group) are invited to the Awards Ceremony located in the Dino-Hall of the Discovery Park of America (DPA). 200-300 people attend this awards ceremony and all 100 winners are given (2) Discovery Park of America VIP two-day tickets to enjoy the park throughout the day before the ceremony. Discovery Park of America graciously provides the venue for the Awards Ceremony. Once seated at the tables, DPA has a quick introduction and then directs families to get in line to get their meal, usually consisting of a kid-friendly plate of chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, salad, roll, huge cookie and more, made by Sabines Cafe.
Once everyone is seated after the meal, the ceremony begins. Each child is called up individually to receive their award while their individual artwork is displayed in multiple places on large screens surrounding the room. A photo is taken of each child receiving their award.
All 100 winners receive a certificate and a beautiful ribbon provided by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation (TWRF). 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place winners also receive a wooden plaque with their name and placement, provided by TWRF. Best of Show winner also receives a framed federal duck stamp print and a $1000 check from TWRF.
Several Special Recognition awards are handed out as well, such as Best Habitat, Most Life-Like, Best Water Depiction, Most Unique, etc. These are chosen specifically by staff and volunteers of the Reelfoot NWR.
If you are unable to attend the Awards Ceremony, you may have someone pick up your artwork and awards for you, or it can be mailed back to the school directly after the ceremony.
Honorable Mention winners may take their artwork home directly after the ceremony. All 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Best of Show winners (Top 36) will receive their artwork back in January of the next year. Top 36 winners will be showcased on our traveling display and travel to several areas in TN for people to view. This traveling display has been showcased at the Bass Pro Shop in Memphis, Discovery Park of America in Union City, Wolf Gap Education Center near Pulaski Pulaski
The Pulaski is a special hand tool used in wildland firefighting. The tool combines an axe and an adze in one head, similar to that of the cutter mattock, with a rigid handle of wood, plastic, or fiberglass. The Pulaski is a versatile tool for constructing firebreaks, as it can be used to both dig soil and chop wood.
Learn more about Pulaski , Reelfoot Lake State Park in Tiptonville, local libraries and more. If you know of a great place to display the artwork, please let us know! We want people to see your artwork!
