The 2017 Iowa Junior Duck Stamp Contest winners will be on display from January 15th, to February 28, 2018 at the Toledo Public Library.

Visit the library to see some amazing artwork from students in grades K-12. The exhibit includes 36 pieces of artwork of Iowa’s first, second, and third place winners.

Coralee Bodeker, a 14-year-old from Vinton, was awarded the 2017 Iowa Best of Show winner. Coralee’s entry was a Northern Shoveler done in colored pencil. Her original artwork was sent to Washington, D.C. to participate in the national contest and is now traveling the United States as part of the best of show winners from all fifty states.

Also included in the exhibit this year are 16 winners from the Ukraine. This project, known as the Iowa USA / Vinogradovsky District Ukraine Student Art Exchange Project, made its debut in 1999.

The Junior Duck Stamp Contest is modeled after the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, commonly known as the “Duck Stamp”. The competition is held annually and all students in grades K-12 may participate in the contest. The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Program, managed in Iowa by the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City, is a conservation program designed to teach students about waterfowl conservation and wetlands habitat through an art and science-based curriculum.

Entries for the 2018 contest will be accepted anytime but must be postmarked by March 15, 2018. Please mail entries to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box 399, 9981 Pacific Street, Prairie City, Iowa 50228. For more information about the contest, contact Doreen Van Ryswyk at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge at (515)994-3400 or go to the website: www.fws.gov/duckstamps.