Another Hautman Brother Wins Duck Stamp Art Contest
The Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest was held a little more than a week ago (September 15-16) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at the Noel Fine Arts Center. There, before a packed audience, a panel of five judges went through 215 submissions, all https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f%3D0013W7vNp1RrXU4B4RzFqs1kuoMdxWH_bBuRb6TLCMgvU2dPEwZ6MmywelFNUBu4r42VKZTKv9b9Ne4hIcp6osBUtg2OXDBz0dPss1pqv2fcvKyN10i-6nD4n-kenAZwQIORmNSNqTfBeZfloL9vRflmx86RTHK8uvLTU-MKIVESuPkqd4U5DSyXofLqZbDe_0KdgQlB5J2PWtO7lJh4DzQJMZlM9VCJYzmaiqQ8ZlySrg%3D%26c%3DvljjLn_YKcQJDU8XtAZ_IsDevm81IaUjGAGZAgtcBnH3IvITWnSB5A%3D%3D%26ch%3DjtWiLD-HAVN-KmIefukrBHaOq7gTapoIJOe_j3RaTcbgcM8nHDVW7g%3D%3D&source=gmail&ust=1506544882779000&usg=AFQjCNFK6pfvThns094-JDpSqUUqmW1Gyg">still viewable in an online gallery, in this year's exciting competition. Eligible species for this year's contest were:
- Mallard,
- Gadwall,
- Cinnamon Teal,
- Blue-winged Teal, and
- Harlequin Duck.
Out of the 215 entries, there were 12 that made it to the final round of judging on that Saturday.
Although the stamp, today called the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, has been in existence since 1934, the first art contest started in 1949. It was open to any U.S. artist who wished to enter, with 65 artists submitting 88 design entries that first year. To this day, the contest remains open to any artist 18 or older who is a U.S. citizen. (A number of artists submitted pieces for the first time this year. The uptick in art submissions was attributed by some to the increase in the program's visibility after the release of the movie, Million Dollar Duck.)
Bob Hautman, an accomplished artist from Delano, Minnesota, won the contest. His image of a pair of Mallards flying over a cattail marsh - with other Mallards in the background - will be made into the 2018-2019 stamp. It will go on sale in late June 2018. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service produces the stamp, which sells for $25 each and raises nearly $40 million each year to provide easement and fee-title wetland and grassland habitats for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
This is Bob Hautman's third Federal Duck Stamp Contest win. His art previously appeared on the 1997-1998 (Canada Goose) and 2001-2002 (Northern Pintail) stamps. Bob's brothers, Jim and Joe,
are also multiple Duck Stamp artists, having each won the contest five times. Curiously, Bob's win this year follows the two wins in the previous two years by his brothers, Joe in 2015 (Trumpeter Swan) and Jim in 2016 (Canada Goose). And perhaps as curious, in 2015, the trio took all three top spots when Joe took first prize, Bob was second, and Jim was third.
Greg Alexander of Ashland, Wisconsin, placed second this year with his acrylic painting of a Cinnamon Teal. Christine Clayton of Sidney, Ohio, took third place with her oil painting of a Blue-winged
Teal. In 2012, Clayton won the National Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest with her painting of a Northern Pintail. She was 17 at the time.
The five judges for this year's Federal Duck Stamp Contest were highly qualified: Dr. Jacob Straub, a waterfowl biologist and the Wetlands and Waterfowl Conservation Chair in UW-Stevens Point's College of Natural Resources; Jane Kim, an artist and science illustrator; Robert Spoerl, a lifelong hunter and conservationist with a passion for waterfowl; Tim Pearson, an artist - and flyfishing guide - who paints mostly in watercolor; and Richard Prager, an avid collector of Federal and Junior Duck Stamps, Duck Stamp remarques, and original artwork.
Friends of the Migratory Bird/Duck Stamp, P.O. Box 2143, Columbia, MD 21045
http://www.friendsofthestamp.org