"Sublime Sunshine" by 18 year old Cesar Rios, the New Mexico Best of Show Award winning entry for the 2009 Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest.

Judges pose with the New Mexico Best of Show Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest winning entry, "Sublime Sunrise" by 18 year old Cesar Rios. From left to right: Skeeter Laird, Bill Howe, Colin Lee, Cindy Wolfe, and Jerry Geoff

On Thursday, March 24, five judges met at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge to judge the New Mexico entries for the 2009 Junior Duck Stamp Contest. The Junior Duck Stamp Contest, created in 1989, is a national program that teaches wetland-habitat and waterfowl conservation through the arts. Students from kindergarten through high school put their artistic talents to work creating artwork that depicts a variety of waterfowl species in their native habitats. Students from all over New Mexico submitted a total of 457 entries, creating a challenge for the five judges, whose job it was to select a winner from each age group and one entry as Best of Show. This year’s judges represented a unique blend of arts and conservation. Representing the arts were New Mexico Artist Skeeter Laird, who specializes in depictions of waterfowl in the Middle Rio Grande’ and Photographer Jerry Goffe, who’s wildlife photography has been featured in a number of magazines and in galleries all across the state. Wildlife conservation was represented by biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bill Howe, who works in the Office of Migratory Birds, in Albuquerque, and Refuge Wildlife Biologist Colin Lee. Representing the Ducks Unlimited was Cynthia Wolfe, who, as State Chairperson for the organization, served as the fifth judge for this year’s competition. The Best in Show award went to eighteen year old Cesar Rios from Mesquite, NM., for his depiction of a male Wood duck, entitled “Sublime Sunrise.” His drawing will represent the State of New Mexico in the 2009 National Junior Duck Stamp Contest judging, which will take place on April 22 at the U.S. Postal Museum, in Washington D.C. Mr. Rios and each winner of the four separate age groups will be formally recognized at the state level, during an awards ceremony that will take on May 2nd, at the Macey Conference Center, in Socorro, NM.