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| 2006 Results |
| FAQ's |
| Educating Our Youth |
| Curriculum Guide |
| FWS Educating for Conservation |
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| Art Tour |
Junior Duck Art Contest General Information
The Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest is the culmination of the Junior Duck Stamp curriculum. After studying waterfowl anatomy and habitat students may articulate their newfound knowledge by drawing, painting or sketching a picture of any North American waterfowl species.
Students from around the United States submit drawings to their state, territory or district competition. Winners from these competitions, called the "Best of Show," are then submitted to the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest. One image from the 53 Best of Show entries will become the next Junior Duck Stamp.
Junior Duck Stamps are sold for $5 each by the U.S. Postal Service, Amplex Corporation, and various National Wildlife Refuges. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps are returned to states for environmental and conservation education programs.
Contest Rules and Regulations
Who may participate?
- K-12 students attending public, private, or home schools in the United States and the U.S. Territories are eligible to enter, so long as they are U.S. citizens, resident aliens, or nationals. U.S. Citizens attending schools abroad may enter through their state of residence.
- Any person who has won First Place in the National Junior Duck Stamp Contest during the preceding year may not submit an entry in the current year’s contest.
- Only one entry per student
Design Regulations
- Do not make the design look like a stamp.
- Entries must be 9” x 12” and may not exceed ¼” in total thickness.
- Design must be horizontal.
- No lettering, words, signatures or initials may appear on the front of the design. Inclusion of such items will result in disqualification.
- Design entry must be contestant’s original, hand drawn creation and may not be traced or copied from photographs or other artists’ published works. See more on use of reference materials.
- Attach entry form to the back of artwork.
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 the art.
Air brush is permitted.
Permitted Species
Entries are limited to the following species (except for entries from the U.S. Territories; they may include species of waterfowl that naturally occur in the specific territory)
Trumpeter Swan ● Tundra Swan ●Wood Duck ● Ruddy Duck ●Koloa
Laysan Duck ● Nene ● Greater White-fronted Goose ● Snow Goose (including blue phase) ● Ross’s Goose ● Emperor Goose ● Canada Goose Brant ●
American Wigeon ● Gadwall ● Green-winged Teal ● Mallard ● Mottled Duck American Black Duck ● Northern Pintail ● Blue-winged Teal ● Cinnamon Teal Northern Shoveler ●Canvasback ● Redhead ● Ring-necked Duck ● Greater Scaup Lesser Scaup ● Common Eider ● King Eider ● Spectacled Eider ● Steller’s Eider Halequin Duck ● Long-tailed Duck ● Black Scoter ● Surf Scoter ● White-winged Scoter ● Bufflehead ● Common Goldeneye ● Barrow’s Goldeneye Fulvous ● Whistling Duck ● Black-bellied Whistling-Duck ● Masked Duck ● Nene
Hooded Merganser ● Red-breasted Merganser ● Common Merganser ● Koloa ● Laysan Duck ●
Please note: Koloa,
Laysan Duck, and Nene were not listed as permitted species on the 2006 brochure but are acceptable species for the contest.
Liability Statement
The U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
Will not insure the entries it receives or be responsible for loss or damage of the entries;
Will make every effort to return the artwork safely to students. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of any change in address;
Reserves the exclusive right to authorize the reproduction of the National First Place winning design, including stamps and various licensed products and to photograph the winning stamp design without compensation to the student. The winning artist will provide autographs without charge to the public or Federal Government. Autographs will be requested on Junior Duck Stamps and Junior Duck Stamp Products;
Has the right to send artwork on tour around the United States . Artwork on tour may be handled by a third party.
Has the right to use the student names for promotional purposes without compensation to the student;
Has the right to destroy unclaimed artwork after one year; and
Has the right to disqualify any entry submitted into the Junior Duck Stamp Competition that has the appearance of a plagiarized submission.
Using Reference Materials
Entries violating any of the rules will be automatically disqualified before the judging. Be sure to follow carefully all instructions; refer to the National Art Education Association's Statement on Involvement in Art Contests. Al entries must be original art work. Use resource files and reference materials inventively, incorporate borrowed motifs and published images abut modify and reinterpret them. Do not copy them literally. Resource materials may be observed and obtained in zoo, parks, museums, water refuges, golf courses' ponds, wetlands, taxidermist's mounts, wildlife magazines, National Geographic, video tapes, movies, slides, filmstrips, and libraries. Using sever different photographs and reference materials, plus incorporating ones own ideas so that the resulting stamp design is one which the student can truly call his/her own, is acceptable. As student might blend abstract techniques and naturalistic knowledge in a design which captures the essence of waterfowl and its habitat. Accidents in art such as split paint may be a way of stimulating creative solutions to artistic problems. Encourage students to develop creative and innovative results in their artwork.
How to Enter the Contest
Thank you for your interest in the Junior Duck Stamp Contest. The 2007 Contest Rules and Entry Form are available below. Please contact your state coordinator with any questions.
Entries must be postmarked to your state coordinator by March 15, 2007.*
* January 18th for North Carolina, January 30th for South Carolina, and March 1st for Ohio.
Click on the map or scroll through the menu below to find your state-specific information.
Adobe Acrobat Versions:
2007 Contest Brochure
Download the free Adobe software.
Submission Check-List
* Entries must be postmarked by midnight , March 15, 2007
(North Carolina's deadline is January 18th; South Carolina ’s deadline is January 30th;
Ohio ’s deadline is March 1st)
* Send entries to your state’s JUNIOR DUCK STAMP STATE COORDINATOR
* For students attending military school abroad, send entry to state of U.S. residence State Coordinator.
* Entries may not be sent in with a mat, glass, frame, fixed cover sheet or border (chalk and pastel entries must be sprayed with a fixative).
*A loose cover sheet may be laid over the art face to protect it during shipping.
Entries must meet size requirements in order to qualify for the contest.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the permitted species?
See species list.
2. Who do I send my entry to?
Please send your entry to the State Coordinator of the state, territory or district you currently reside in.
3. What are the awards?
Each state competition has it's own awards structure. The Federal office provides awards to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners from the National Contest, along with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place conservation messages from the National Contest. Remember, each state, district, or U.S. territory sends one piece of art to the National Contest.
Art First Place: $5,000 cash award, free trip to Washington, DC (Summer 2007) to attend the First Day of Sales Ceremony, along with art teacher, one parent/guardian, and the State Coordinator.
Art Second Place: $3000 cash award
Art Third Place:
$2000 cash award
Conservation Message First Place: $500 cash award
Conservation Message Second Place: $300 cash award
Conservation Message Third Place: $200 cash award
Click on Your State to Find Out How You Can Participate !
