By Staff
Two IWCA contestsjoining the agendafor Feb. 6-8 weekend
By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
For the second year in a row, the East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships will host the 2009 North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition.
The 14th-annual East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships will be held Feb. 6-8 in Washington. Last year was the first time a nationwide, public art competition was conducted to select the winning artwork used to produce the current North Carolina Waterfowl Conservation Stamp, also known as the “duck stamp.” The festival also will host the 2009 N.C. Junior Duck Stamp competition.
Those competitions serve as a prelude to the East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships. The duck-stamp competition is scheduled for Jan. 26 at the Washington Civic Center, with the junior duck-stamp competition set for Jan. 28 at the North Carolina Estuarium.
Scot Storm, a Minnesota resident, won the 2008 N.C. Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition. He received $7,000 for winning the competition and a $300 travel allowance.
The festival also will feature the International Wildfowl Carvers Association’s National Traditional Gunning Decoy Carving Championship and the IWCA’s inaugural National Young Gun Decoy Carving Championship.
Selected entries from the Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition will be displayed at the preview reception for the festival. At that reception, to be held Feb. 6, the top five entries will be announced. Their submissions will remain on display throughout the festival weekend, when the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will announce the winner of the competition.
From 1983 through 2007, the state’s waterfowl stamp and print program commissioned artists to create paintings from which the waterfowl stamps and collectible prints are produced. Often, the waterfowl stamp is referred to as the duck stamp.
Money raised by the sale of waterfowl stamps and prints is used to help North Carolina meet its financial obligations in implementing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, an international agreement with goals to restore waterfowl populations on the North American continent, according to a brochure about the waterfowl stamp competition.
The festival’s core is at the Washington Civic Center, with many events and activities taking place in areas such as Stewart Parkway along the Pamlico River. The carving competitions will take place at the Red Men’s Lodge on East Third Street. The Wildlife Art and Decoy Auction will be held at the Washington Yacht and Country Club, 7155 River Road.
More than 100 pieces of wildlife art and decoys will be up for bids at the auction.
Rule and guidelines
2008 North Carolina Waterfowl
Conservation Stamp Competition
Entries must be realistic, full-color depictions of one of the following scenes:
An artist is limited to one submission. Paintings must be horizontal and measure 13 inches by 18 inches, matted in white and bear no markings or signatures what would identify the artist. Each submission must be accompanied by a signed artist agreement, an entry fee and be in full compliance with guidelines set forth by the official entry form, which is available at the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild’s Web site — www.eastcarolinawildfowlguild.com. Artists must be at least 18 years old to compete in the contest. Entry forms may be downloaded from the guild’s Web site.