Johns Creek Student Wins State Junior Duck Stamp Art Competition

JOHNS CREEK, GA -- “A March on the Water,” an acrylic painting of a green winged teal by Win Sheng, aged 12, from First Fine Art and Design Studio in Johns Creek, won the 2019 Georgia Junior Duck Stamp Art Competition. The contest was held last week at the Southeast Regional U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office in Atlanta.

“I painted the green winged teal because of all the colors and its personality,” Sheng said in a release. He has been painting for only two and a half years.

Sheng will receive a $175 scholarship from Georgia Power, a long-time sponsor of the Georgia Junior Duck Stamp Program, as well as a certificate and ribbon. As Georgia’s Best of Show, Sheng’s original artwork will be sent to compete in the National Junior Duck Stamp Contest on Friday, April 19, at the Visitors Center of Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland.

A panel of judges, selected for their expertise in artistic design, wildlife art, and waterfowl biology, decided the Best of Show among the winners of this year’s contest. They were Greg Balkcom, wildlife biologist, Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Ben Dickerson, Georgia Power; David Patterson, former Georgia Junior Duck First Place and Second Place winning artist, Dean Demarest, deputy chief of Migratory Birds in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Southeast Region; and Darwin Huggins retired assistant special agent-in charge for the Office of Law Enforcement in the Service’s Southeast Region.

A total of 100 winners were selected. They included up to 25 winners in each of four different age groups: kindergarten to third grade, fourth to sixth grade, seventh to ninth grade and 10th to 12th grade. There were three first place, three second place, three third place and up to 16 honorable mention winners were chosen in each of the four categories. The Best of Show was selected from among all the first place winners.

This year, 581 Junior Duck Stamp entries of 52 different species were submitted statewide from 13 different public and private schools, home schools, and art studios.

Other winners from Johns Creek include, all from First Fine Art & Design Studio Johns Creek:

Winners Grades K-3:

• 1st Place, Sophia Zhan
• 3rd Place, Lingxuan Bi

Winners Grades 4-6:

• 1st Place & Best of Show: Win Sheng
• 2nd Place: Cheyenne Reeve
• 2nd Place: Joanne Deng
• 3rd Place: Vincent Yang
• 3rd Place: Yunxin Lin

Winners Grades 7-9:

• 1st Place: Di Shang
• 2nd Place: Daniel Rao
• 2nd Place: Andy Qu
• 3rd Place: Mingjia Li,
• 3rd Place: Jennifer He
• 3rd Place: Xiaoyi Zhang

Winners Grades 10-12:

• 1st Place: Zhuoyu Jiang
• 1st Place: Jason Lam
• 1st Place: Catherine Sun
• 2nd Place: Haibei Ma
• 2nd Place: Huiling Tan
• 2nd Place: Stephen Lam
• 3rd Place: Maggie Xia
• 3rd Place: David Wang

The best in show from the 2018-19 contest was Rayen Kang, 17, a recent graduate of Northview High School in Johns Creek.

Junior Duck Stamps are sold by the U.S. Postal Service and Amplex Corporation consignees for $5 per stamp. Proceeds from the sale of Junior Duck Stamps support conservation education, and provide awards and scholarships for students, teachers, and schools that participate in the program.Donations to the Junior Duck Stamp Program can also be made through purchases on Amazon.com.

The Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest is open to all youth in grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade. All participants receive a certificate of appreciation. To learn more about the Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest including a new curriculum and study guide for students, teachers and parents, visit the service website.