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NOTED OHIO ARTIST WINS OHIO WETLANDS STAMP COMPETITION Ohio artists place in top three COLUMBUS, OH - The artwork of a drake wood duck by Elyria native Adam Grimm,
26, won first place at this year's Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp design
competition, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR)
Division of Wildlife. Grimm's painting will appear on the Ohio wetlands
stamp for the fall of 2005.
The winning entry was selected from a field of 27 original paintings
submitted by artists in 13 states, including nine entries from Ohio. The
competition was held Saturday, February 14 at the annual Ducks Unlimited
convention in Wilmington, Ohio.
"It's great to win in my home state and especially with this species," Grimm
said.
This was Grimm's first win in Ohio in a conservation stamp competition. In
1999, he became the youngest artist ever to win the prestigious federal duck
stamp competition. He also has won state competitions in Washington in 2001
and Alaska in 2000 and 2003. Grimm was the 2004 artist of the year for Ohio
Ducks Unlimited.
More than 35,000 wetland stamps are purchased every year, according to the
ODNR Division of Wildlife. Proceeds from the stamp sales help fund vital
wetland habitat restoration projects in Ohio. Such habitats are important to
many resident wildlife species, including trumpeter swans, wetland birds,
and amphibians, as well as numerous migratory species such as ducks,
shorebirds and other birds that pass through Ohio each spring and fall.
Other Ohioans placed well in the stamp competition. Second place honors went
to Gregory Clair of Bowling Green for his rendering of a mallard. Clair won
the Ohio competition in 1991. Third place went to Dick Benson of Washington
Court House for his portrait of a pair of long-tailed ducks, formerly known
as Oldsquaw. Benson is the 2004 Michigan Ducks Unlimited sponsor artist of
the year.
Semi-finalists included Donnie Hughes of South Carolina, Jeffery Klinefelter
of Indiana, and Mark Anderson of South Dakota. Last year's Ohio wetlands
stamp winner, Robert Metropolus of Wisconsin, will see his painting of
tundra swans appear on this fall's 2004 wetlands habitat stamp.
The judges for this year's event were Fred Zink, champion waterfowl caller
and call maker; outdoor writer Jim Morris; outdoor enthusiast Ken Epperley;
conservationist Jim Mears; and Dave Linkhart, past president of The Ohio
Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Mike Fritz of Ducks
Unlimited served as an alternate judge.
Source: ODNR
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