7 Apr
2016

Posted in: Uncategorized
By Hugh    No Comments

Going Quackers for Ducks: Junior Duck Stamp Awards

Wood duck painting by Hope Anderson.

Imagine a painting of a duck, rendered by a young artist. Now multiply that by nearly 700. Now imagine choosing the best out of those to represent Rhode Island in the national art contest to design US Fish and Wildlife’s National Junior Duck Stamp. Perhaps the epitome of the thankless task?

The competition drew artists from grades K – 12.

Hundreds of artists, parents, and siblings crowded into Exeter West Greenwich (EWG) High School on Saturday to find out whether their labor of love would make the cut to represent Rhode Island in the national competition.

In the end Lea Fabre would take the Best in Show award, her second. “The hardest part for me was getting the courage to enter again, since I won in 2013 when I was in eighth grade,” she said. “My mom is an ornithologist, and she really encouraged me to try again.”

Grand Prize Winner Lea Fabre and Congressman Jim Langevin.

Mia Speciale, from Exeter-West Greenwich High School, received Best Conservation message for her message “Saving wildlife is saving the future.” Rhode Island Democratic Congressman James Langevin presented the top awards.

Mia Speciale won Best Conservation Message.

The contest, open to artists in grades K – 12, has been in existence since 1989 as an extension of the Migratory Bird Conservation and Hunting Stamp, better known as the Federal Duck Stamp. The idea for a stamp originated to answer concerns over the destruction of wetlands, which are essential to migratory waterfowl survival. Hunters are required to buy a stamp each year, and nearly $800 million has been raised for habitat protection since its inauguration in 1934. In the case of the Junior Duck Stamp, all funds raised from the $5 fee goes to environmental education activities for kids participating in the stamp conservation program. Both stamps are available for purchase by the general public wishing to support the programs, either through retailers or online at www.duckstamp.com.

EWG Fine Arts Chair Elizabeth Lind congratulates Fabre.

Elizabeth Lind, Fine Arts Department Chair at EWG, was responsible for bringing the awards ceremony to the school. “It’s fast and furious when it comes to getting the kids ready for the competition,” she said. Because the students may only be in art class twice a week, the number of hours spent painting is vastly different from youngsters who enter on their own or through private lessons. On the other hand, her students do have the benefit of other experts on hand. “We often have kids who have to run to their science teachers to ask them questions about whether the habitat they’ve chosen for their birds is accurate.”

The hundreds of paintings entered all happened with the guidance of dedicated teachers, and Visual Arts teacher Martha Sholes of Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School in Cranston won “Teacher of the Year.” Sholes and her students had 281 pieces of student art in this year’s competition.

Teacher of the Year winner Martha Sholes.

Hope Anderson, one of the first place winners, said that she’s been painting since the fourth grade. Now in 12^th grade, she’s worked with Solace Loven’s Lionheart Studios for the past eight years. “I chose a Wood duck as my subject, because I’ve been working through different colored ducks over the years.” And the toughest challenge in this painting? “The body. I had such a hard time getting the colors and the contours right! There is so much paint on that painting,” she says with a smile.

Although the competition nationwide has produced some full-time wildlife artists, Anderson’s current plans lean more towards science. Still, her palate and brush will be nearby her in college. “I know I want to keep art in my life.”