Education/Interpretation - Educator's Guide - Discovery Packs - Reservation Form - Junior Duck Stamp Program
Congratulations Ariana Chen!!
California 2013 Junior Duck Stamp Best of Show - Ariana Chen, 14 from Fremont
Photo by Erik Bergren
Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program
Sacramento NWR is the California State Receiving Site for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program. Students in kindergarten through high school are involved in this innovative, curriculum-based program through an annual art competition in each state. Learn more through a video on Facebook. The annual contest entries must be postmarked by March 15th and mailed to: Sacramento NWR Complex, 752 County Road 99W, Willows, CA 95988.
Download the 2013 Entry Form (or in Spanish) and Reference Form (required for grades 7-12). For information, rules, and more, see the 2013 JDS Program and Contest document (pdf, 2.12 MB). Read below for entry requirements and using references.
If your group is in need of 9"x12" paper or other supplies, please contact the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge at 530-934-2801. Supplies are limited.
NEW Junior Duck Stamp Curriculum
This curriculum focuses on the conservation of waterfowl and wetland habitats. It is designed for students in grades 5–8, with adaptations for K–4 and 9–12. Click here to learn more.
2013 Results and Information
Entry Requirements
- The physical size of submitted artwork must be 9" x 12".
- Entries must be less than ¼" thick.
- Image layout must be horizontal.
- Image must be a live portrayal of a native North American duck, swan or goose (refer to eligible species list).
- 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 scratch-board, 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 contestant's original, hand-drawn creation and may not be traced or copied from published photographs or other artists' works.
- 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.
- Entries that do not meet the requirements will be disqualified.
Using References to Prepare Your Entry
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 species depicted. Students should not reproduce other artists’ visual images for the purpose of presenting 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 copied 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.
Important Links:
Free Art Camp every December
The Flyway Journeys Wildlife Art Camp is a partnership between California Waterfowl, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, and the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association to provide 12 selected high school art or science students with a continental perspective of waterfowl and wildlife art. Students will work closely with professional artists and biologists to gain a greater understanding of conservation through the arts while facilitating community awareness through a follow-up visual arts projects. More information here, the flyer, and an application.
