St. Ignatius student among 1st-place artists in Duck Stamp contest
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News from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
MONTANA – On Friday, April 19, the National Junior Duck Stamp contest was held at Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge in Patuxent, Maryland. Entered in this contest was Montana State Junior Duck Stamp Best of Show, “Splash Down,” a beautiful depiction of a harlequin duck created by 19-year-old Plains artist Malachi Paulsen. Paulsen’s artwork is composed with colored pencils and posca pen. The National Best of Show is also a harlequin painted by 16-year-old Nicole Jeon of Scarsdale, New York.
The Junior Duck Stamp Program is a dynamic arts and science curriculum designed to teach youth about waterfowl and their habitat needs. In addition to an original art entry, each student is encouraged to create a conservation message that explains what they have learned about wetlands, conservation, waterfowl and wildlife. The artwork and conservation message are considered a visual “term paper” of what students have learned about waterfowl and wetlands. This year’s Montana conservation message winner is Olivia Bauscher, age 9, of Alberton, with, “Our life and our future grow in the wetlands beauty”.
Paulsen’s artwork was judged best of show on Thursday, March 21, at the Montana State Junior Duck Stamp Contest at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Stevensville. Ninety-two entries from student artists, age kindergarten through twelfth grade from around the state, were judged by five local judges.
Thirty-five native species of waterfowl were depicted across the 92 entries. The local Montana First Place finishers was Lina Sturman of St. Ignatius.
An awards ceremony is scheduled for May 11 at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge amphitheater in Stevensville for all first, second, third and honorable mention finishers and their families. The Refuge staff and volunteers would like to congratulate all 92 artists on their entries and thank all of the parents, teachers, mentors, and administrators for their support of their students.
