2004 State-Fish Art Contest Winners Announced

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Wildlife Forever are pleased to announce the winners for the 2004 Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest. A distinguished panel of judges selected the Alabama winners:

Grades 4-6      Phillip Estes    Albertville, AL      (To request high resolution images of the artwork, please email.)

Grades 7-9       Ashley Anderson     Enterprise, AL

Grades 10-12     Megan Graves      Hartselle, AL

To enter the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, young artists create an illustration of their state fish and a written composition on its behavior, habitat, and efforts to conserve it. Alabama’s state freshwater fish is the largemouth bass, and the Alabama saltwater fish is the fighting tarpon. Entries are categorized in three grade levels: 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12.  The contest uses art to introduce students to aquatic conservation.

Educators nationwide have utilized the full-color State-Fish Art Contest Lesson Plan, an interdisciplinary educational supplement specific to aquatic natural resources that includes extensive background information, a species identification section profiling each state fish, a glossary, and student worksheets. The lesson plan can be downloaded at no cost from the State-Fish Art Web site, www.statefishart.com.

All state winners for the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest were recognized at the State-Fish Art Expo at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota in June. Winning artwork was displayed for Mall visitors to admire and an Award Ceremony acknowledged the hard work of the talented young artists. Winners were also recognized on the playing field of the Metrodome before a Minnesota Twins game.

The 2004 judging team included Kevin Robb of the Mall of America, Tony Balk of Con Agra Snack Foods Group, Ryan Gilligan of the North American Fishing Club, Michelle Kelly of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Minn Aqua Program, and youth representative Nathan Grann, a previous winner of the Junior Duck Stamp Contest.

According to Wildlife Forever President and CEO Doug Grann, “The Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest is a program that emphasizes the wonder and enjoyment to be found in the natural world. We strongly believe that conservation education will ultimately determine the future of our wildlife heritage.  The State-Fish Art Contest imparts important lessons through a fun medium that touches the creative spirit of youth.”

For information on the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest, visit www.statefishart.com, or call toll-free at 1-877-Fish-Art.

Located in Brooklyn Center, MN, Wildlife Forever is a non-profit multi-species conservation organization dedicated to preserving America’s wildlife heritage. Sponsors for the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest include the Mall of America, the Minnesota Twins, the North American Fishing Club, Jiffy Pop Popcorn, Pemmican Beef Jerky, and Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff.

For more information on the Alabama Department of Conservation visit www.outdooralabama.com.

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