Page 42 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2021

SPORTS & OUTDOORS
TALENT
ON DISPLAY
Youth Art Contest Gives Students Creative Opportunities
Young Mississippi artists can demonstrate their creative talents and receive prizes, plus recognition during the 2021 North Mississippi Fish Hatchery Youth Art Contest.
story by John N. Felsher
photos courtesy of The Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks
Mockingbird and Magnolias
by Jada Price.
42 | March 2021 3 | Dec. 2020
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Sponsored by the Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) and conducted by staffers from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the contest is free and open to all Mississippi students from kindergarten to high school.
“Since we began the contest, we’ve received about 2,000 pieces of artwork from almost 100 schools,” Wiggins reports. “Each entrant must be an original piece of art done by the student. It must portray a species native to Mississippi
or that migrates through the state. We’ve had everything from depictions of dragonflies to black bears and largemouth bass. We don’t accept depictions of extinct species or domesticated animals.”
“The contest is open to all children throughout the state,” explains Emily-Jo Wiggins,
the art contest coordinator
for the MDWFP. “We’ve had winners from D’Iberville and honorable mentions from Ocean Springs in the past.”
Each student can only submit one entry. Students can enter original drawings, paintings, sculptures or other types of artwork, but they cannot submit photographs or computer-generated graphics.
The state began the youth art contest in 2014. Students from ages 5 to 19 years old can participate in four age categories so they compete against their peers. The age categories range from 5 to 7 years old, 8 to 11, 12 to 15 and 16 to 19 years old.
“We’ve had chalk and charcoal drawings, just whatever the child would like to do,” Wiggins says. “We