2010 Virginia Migratory Waterfowl Conservation Stamp Art Contest

You are invited to enter the 2010 Virginia Migratory Waterfowl Conservation Stamp art contest. A competitive process will again be employed for the selection of original art for the stamp. A panel consisting of staff from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and several conservation organizations including Virginia Ducks Unlimited, Virginia Waterfowlers' Association, Waterfowl USA, and Delta Waterfowl will judge all submitted art as to its technical and esthetic merit. In the event of highly competitive works, the artist proposed fees (for stamp signing & remarques) will serve as a final deciding, or tie-breaking, factor. The stipend to the winning artist of this year's competition will be $1,500.

Rules and Guidelines

The competition is open to residents of Virginia only.
Each artist may submit no more than two original works.
The original art subject will be the artist choice.
Each submission must be an original work and not previously printed or copied.
Each submission must be "flat-art" and may be in the medium of the artist choice.
Artwork should be submitted unframed and may be as larger as 18" x 13" keeping in mind that the final printed image will be 9" x 6.5" (with a height to width ratio of 1.4).
Each submittal must be accompanied with a completed and signed "Agreement."
All entries must be received by Virginia Ducks Unlimited or the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries before COB on March 1, 2010. Additionally, Entries postmarked by March 1, 2010 will also be accepted. Any entry not received by or postmarked by March 1, 2010 will not be accepted.
Notification (to Virginia Ducks Unlimited) of intent to submit is requested by January 15, 2010.
All non-winning entries will be returned to the submitting artist upon completion of judging.
Alternatively, the non-winning artist may elect to donate his artwork to Virginia Ducks Unlimited for use in fundraising for their conservation efforts. Virginia Ducks Unlimited will recognize such with appropriate IRS acceptable donation documentation. As an additional alternative, the artwork may be donated, on a contingency basis, for auction at one of the Virginia Ducks Unlimited state events. Normally such contributions are auction proceed shared on a 50/50 basis.

The winning artist, and his/her guest, is invited to participate in the Virginia Ducks Unlimited State Convention (normally in March/April) as a guest of Virginia Ducks Unlimited. The winning art is normally offered as the premier centerpiece of the auction at the Grand State Banquet on Saturday evening of each annual convention.

Virginia Duck Stamp Species History:

1988: Mallard
1989: Canada Goose
1990: Wood Duck
1991: Canvasback
1992: Bufflehead
1993: Black Duck
1994: Lesser Scaup
1995: Snow Goose
1996: Hooded Merganser
1997: Pintail
1998: Mallard
1999: Green-Winged Teal
2000: Mallard
2001: Blue-Winged Teal
2002: Canvasback
2003: Tundra Swan
2004: Common Goldeneye
2005: Wood Duck
2006: Black Duck
2007: Canada Geese
2008: Gadwall
2009: Ring Neck

Submission Details

If you would like to enter this year's competition, your flat art entry(ies) must be postmarked no later than March 1, 2010 with delivery to:

Mike Hinton
Virginia Ducks Unlimited
6103 Miles Lane
Warrenton, VA 20187
ducks@hintons.org
(540) 351-0564

If you would prefer to hand deliver your entry it can be delivered to the above address or to:

Bob Ellis
Director, Wildlife Division
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries
4010 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23230

All hand delivered entries must be received at either of the above addresses by 5:00 PM on March 1, 2010. Any entry not meeting the above criteria will not be accepted.

Further Information

For additional information and to obtain artist competition agreement forms contact Mike Hinton of Virginia Ducks Unlimited (address above).