Submissions are open for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department 2018 Conservation Stamp Art Show, featuring the badger (taxidea taxus). Submissions will be accepted until March 1, 2017.
Badgers are heavy, flat-bodied, medium-sized mammals with short, strong legs; a thick, short neck; a broad head, and a short, bushy tail. This yellowish-gray mammal has a median white stripe from its nose over the top of its head, white cheeks, a black muzzle, a black spot in front of each ear, and black feet with extremely long front claws. Badgers, known for digging, live in Wyoming’s grasslands and sagebrush areas.
“This is a competitive national contest, and artists from Wyoming are encouraged to submit their work,” said Margaret James, Game and Fish art show coordinator.
The contest is judged by a panel from the arts, printing, and biology professions. Each submission will be carefully evaluated by a Game and Fish biologist for anatomical accuracy of the animal and ecological correctness of any habitat portrayed. Entries will also be judged on artistic composition, and suitability of images that will reproduce well as a stamp.
“A tip we can offer artists is to consider how their image will appear on a stamp, which of course, is very small,” said James. “Also, attention to biological details is of utmost importance in this contest.”
Artists can download the rulebook for a full listing of submission guidelines and rules. Judging will take place on April 7, 2017, and there will be an open house to announce the winners that evening at the Game and Fish headquarters in Cheyenne.
The winner of the contest will have his or her art reproduced on approximately 40,000 Conservation Stamps.The original piece of art becomes the property of Game and Fish and will be placed on permanent public display in the headquarters office.
Conservation stamps originated in 1984 and almost all hunters and anglers in Wyoming must purchase the stamp yearly. Stamps are also purchased by collectors and purchasers of the Wyoming Conservation Stamp limited edition art prints.
More information about the contest and listing of past winners can be found on the Game and Fish website.
