Artists can prepare their canvases for the 34th annual Wyoming Game and Fish Department Conservation Stamp Art Show. Game and Fish will accept submissions beginning Jan. 3, 2017.
The subject of the 2018 stamp is the badger (taxidea taxus). 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.
“We are looking forward to competitive submissions from the Wyoming artist community as well as from artists across the country,” said Margaret James, Game and Fish art show coordinator.
The contest is judged by a panel from the arts, printing, and biology professions. Each painting 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.
Submissions will be accepted until March 1, 2017. 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.
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 the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to be placed on permanent public display in the Game and Fish headquarters office in Cheyenne.
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.
