Wyoming High Schools Art Competition
National Museum of Wildlife Art Celebrates 20th Anniversary
by National Museum of Wildlife Art
May 10, 2007
(Jackson Hole) – In celebration of its 20th Anniversary, the National Museum of Wildlife Art is sponsoring a state-wide art competition for Wyoming high school art students. “Wild About Bears: Wyoming Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the National Museum of Wildlife Art” challenges students to design and decorate fiberglass bear forms; the completed works will be exhibited and judged at the Wyoming High School Art Symposium in Casper, in April 2008. The top eight winning bears will win cash prizes for their school art programs. First Prize is $7,000; Second is $5,000; Third is $2,000 and five Honorable Mention winners will receive $500 each. Bears will be decorated during the ’07 – ’08 school year. The winning eight bears will be exhibited in Cheyenne during the summer of 2008. Any art media used on the bears is acceptable, but materials must be non-volatile, durable, and permanent. All artwork must be original.
NMWA sponsors and staff see the competition as a vehicle to strengthen connections with high school art students and art teachers around the state, and to build awareness of Museum programs. School art programs can be greatly enhanced by this and other educational programs the Museum offers.
“Wild About Bears” sponsors Lynn and Foster Friess came up with the idea for the competition. “Our great state of Wyoming has many treasures, and one of them is the National Museum of Wildlife Art,” says Friess. “My husband and I thought a statewide art competition would benefit high school art programs, as well as be a part of the Museum’s 20th Anniversary celebration.”
The Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources is also a partner in this project. They are providing $8,000 in grant support to the museum.
Jane Lavino, NMWA Sugden Family Curator of Education, immediately began work on the project.
“We are already well known around the state as the host site for Wyoming’s Federal Junior Duck Stamp competition for students. We are using the experience gained in 13 years of hosting that competition, to organize this new contest that will be fun, educational, and profitable for the schools involved. We love the notion that we are supporting the next generation of wildlife artists by encouraging the wildlife art theme, and by giving students opportunities to exhibit their work professionally. A new twist to this contest is that the awards will benefit the school art program rather than individual artists. I am delighted by how well this new program was received by Wyoming teachers who attended the High School Art Symposium in Casper last month. Many teachers are already planning to incorporate “Wild About Bears” into their curricula next school year,” says Lavino.
“We can’t wait to see what students do with the bears,” says Friess. “There is no cost to the high schools, and even if a school does not place in the top eight, they can exhibit their bear and auction it off to benefit their art program. It’s a win-win for the students and the Museum.”
nterested high school art teachers will be asked to fill out an “Application for Participation” and successful applicants will be awarded bears on a first come first served basis. Some of the 30 bears available have already been distributed to teachers via the Wyoming High School Art Symposium. For contest information and a complete set of rules, contact Jane Lavino at 307-732-5417 or jlavino@wildlifeart.org.
The “Wild About Bears” contest and exhibition is generously supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. It is also supported by the Friess Foundation and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
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