Page 9 - 2024MarApr

LESSER PRAIRIE-CHICKEN ARTWORK WINS ODWC AWARD

A scratchboard art-
work titled “The Lesser
Prairie Chicken” by Cris- KELLY J BOSTIAN / KJBOUTDOORS
ten Bosch of Alva Schools
won the Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife
Conservation Award in
this year’s Sutton Award
student art competition.
A 12th-grader, Bosch
received a cash prize for
the best depiction of an
Oklahoma-related con-
servation subject. Her
artwork is a dramatic
portrait of a single lesser
prairie-chicken on a most-
ly black background.
The first-place Sutton
Award winners in each category for this 19th annual all Oklahoma high school students grades 9-12. The ODWC Award winner
contest are: award is funded up to $20,000, which is distributed to Cristen Bosch of Alva High
School, ODWC Education
• 2-D Art: Micah Beeson, Tulsa School of Arts and winning students and their instructors as determined Supervisor Colin Berg, and
Sciences, “Hungry.” by a selection committee. George Miksch Sutton Avian
Research Center board
• 3-D Art: Destiny Hurst, Broken Arrow High School, “From honeybees to Texas horned lizards, through member Jay Pruett at the
“Mother Nature.” sculptures to pastels, these students have intrigu- NatureWorks Art Show and
Sale in Tulsa.
• Photography: Ashtyn Wichert, Northwest ing stories to tell,” said Audra Fogle, development
Tech Center-Fairview, “The Melodious World director for the Sutton Avian Research Center in Bar-
of Songbirds.” tlesville. “It is exciting to be able to connect our con-
This year’s online contest drew 67 entries. The top 20 servation mission with schools to provide significant
artworks were to be exhibited at the NatureWorks Art scholarships for students and the teachers who work
Show and Sale in Tulsa. Sponsors of the 2024 contest so hard to run their programs on shoestring budgets.”
included the Wildlife Department, NatureWorks, Amer- Fogle said nearly 2,700 students have been
ican Heritage Bank, Oklahoma Sculpture Society, and encouraged to express themselves through this
Grant’s Frames. art competition.
Established in 2005, the Sutton Award recogniz- The next Sutton Student Art Award competition will
es high school students who demonstrate the ability start seeking entries in fall, with artworks due in January.
to communicate current conservation topics in com- For more information and to view a gallery of this year’s
pelling ways. The show is free to enter and open to entries, go to www.suttoncenter.org/education.

VIA ODWC FACEBOOK YOUTH SCORES DOUBLE-BANDED

MALLARD ON CONTROLLED HUNT

Nicole was selected a winner of a Wildlife Department
controlled youth waterfowl hunt and was lucky enough to
harvest a mallard with not one, but two, leg bands! Banding
migratory birds is a practice that biologists use to track
harvest rates, migratory patterns, and survival rates for
various species across North America. Only a small num-
ber of birds that are banded will have two bands. This is
a part of a reward band study that gauges the reporting
rate of harvested birds. Congratulations, Nicole, on a hunt
to remember!

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