Artwork from 2,423 school-aged waterfowl artists throughout the state was judged during the 25th Annual California Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 31 and April 1. In California, the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program is facilitated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex (NWRC).
Due to the large number of artwork received, the judging was split into a two-day event. On day one, a panel of five judges narrowed the selection down to the top 100 for each group. The artwork was judged in four grade groups: K-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12, where the top 25 winners were selected from each group. From these groups, three first, three second, three third place and 16 honorable mention winners were chosen. Winning designs receive ribbons and all entrants will receive a certificate of appreciation and awards.
One art design earned the distinguished title of California’s Best of Show, which was a red-breasted merganser by Donghyeon Lee, age 17 from Anaheim. His artwork will be submitted to Washington D.C. to compete with the other states’ Best of Show winners during the National Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest on April 17, 2015. The national winner’s design will be made into the 2015-2016 Federal Junior Duck Stamp.
The 2015 judges included: Dave Tamori, College Board AP Studio Art Consultant from Oroville; Jeff McCreary, Director of Conservation Programs at Ducks Unlimited; Jim Stewart, Dryer and Storage Manager for Lundberg Farms; Louis Terrazas, Wildlife Resource Specialist from San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge; Holly Heyser, Editor for California Waterfowl; Meghan Hertel, Working Lands Director from Audubon California; Curtis Auld, wildlife artist from Stonyford; John Carlson Jr., President of California Waterfowl; Tina Bartlett, Regional Manager from California Department of Fish and Wildlife; and Sandy Ferreira, Park Ranger from the City of Fremont.
This California Junior Duck Stamp Program is so successful because of the generous and supportive partners that provide the funding and manpower. Volunteers from the Sacramento NWRC, California Waterfowl, and other partner organizations worked on the daunting task of laying out all the artwork, tallying scores, and recording the 100 winners. Additional major sponsors for the program include the California Rice Commission, California Department of Water Resources, Pacific Flyway Decoy Association, Central Valley Joint Venture, and other federal, state, private, and non-profit environmental conservation and education agencies.
