Mountain Home ninth grader Josie Arp recently finished in the top 20 in the National Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest. The 15-year-old also won the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation Message Contest at the competition.
Arp’s acrylic rendition of a ruddy duck placed 17th at the national competition, which included entries from all 50 states, Washington D.C. and two U.S. territories. The winner, 18-year-old Margaret McMullern of Kansas, will have her painting of a pair of hooded mergansers featured on the 2021-22 Junior Duck Stamp.
The Conservation Message Contest encourages students to express in words the spirit of what they have learned through classroom discussion, research and planning for their Junior Duck Stamp Contest entries. Arp’s winning message was “When the world turned upside-down nature calmly and quietly laid a blanket of comfort over us all.”
A talented young artist from Kansas has taken top honors at the National Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest. A pair of hooded mergansers by 18-year-old Margaret McMullen, will grace the 2021-2022 Junior Duck Stamp, which raises funds to educate and engage our nation’s youth in wildlife and wetlands conservation and outdoor recreation. A panel of five judges chose the entry, painted in acrylic, from among best-of-show entries from 50 states, Washington, D.C. and two U.S. Territories.
“I am so excited that thousands of talented young students from across the United States participated in this year’s Junior Duck Stamp Program, and especially proud to announce the top winners of this prestigious contest,” said Service Principal Deputy Director Martha Williams. “This program is one of our hallmark efforts to engage youth and foster a lifelong connection with the natural world through science, art and language.”