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Restore the Wild Artwork Competition

2022 General Rules and Guidelines

We welcome artists to create and submit an original piece of art (not photography) for the 2022 Restore the Wild Artwork Competition. Artwork for Restore the Wild should reflect Restore the Wild’s mission to restore and create natural habitats vital to the survival of Virginia’s wildlife.

The winning artwork, highlighting a species with habitat needs, will be used throughout 2021 to help promote Restore the Wild’s mission. Past years’ artwork has featured the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and rusty patched bumble bee and the state-threatened wood turtle. The subject focus of 2022’s artwork is the Loggerhead Shrike, which is a state-threatened bird and a Species of Greatest Conservation Need listed in Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan.

A panel represented by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), and possibly other conservation organizations or experts deemed appropriate by the DWR, will judge all submitted art. Judges will evaluate entries according to the criteria outlined in these rules and guidelines including, but not limited to:

  • accuracy of the subject species and its habitat
  • composition and esthetic merit
  • inclusion of any mandatory elements or published theme
  • overall impression
  • sticker category entries only: suitability to be made into a reduced size

Rules and Guidelines:

  1. Contest judges and their immediate relatives are ineligible to submit entries.
  2. For 2022, artists must depict a Loggerhead Shrike to be eligible (art submitted for the ‘What does Restore the Wild mean to you?’ category are exempt from this requirement).
  3. Artists may submit artwork to one of the following categories (only one category per entry):
    • Sticker – Artists should create a colorful, high contrast, eye-catching digital media artwork that depicts the eligible species. The artist should also include some aspect or a suggestion of the species’ natural habitat. Any plants included in the artwork should be of plants native to Virginia and ideally, plants relevant to the featured species’ habitat. The eligible species must be the dominant feature in the design and be anatomically accurate. The design must also include or leave space for the DWR’s Restore the Wild logo (file available here). The artwork may be designed to accommodate any sticker shape of the artist’s choice or be a die-cut sticker design. Artwork must be suitable for printing at a reduced size. Judges will be looking for artwork that will reproduce well as a sticker and be eye-catching when placed on a car, laptop, water bottle, etc., to help DWR promote Restore the Wild.
    • Fine Art Print – Artists should create realistic scenes depicting the species in its natural habitat. Any plant species depicted should be of those native to Virginia and relevant to the featured species’ natural habitat. The eligible species must be the dominant feature/ obvious focus of the design and be anatomically accurate. The featured species should be noticeably larger than any other elements. Eligible media: any paint of the artist’s choice, pen and ink, colored pencil, pastels, chalk, or a combination of these media. Judges will be looking for a piece of art that celebrates Restore the Wild’s mission to restore and create natural habitats vital to the survival of Virginia’s wildlife.
    • Youth (ages 16 and under) – Artists should create scenes depicting the eligible species in its natural habitat. Any specific plant species depicted should be of those native to Virginia. The eligible species must be the dominant feature in the design and be anatomically accurate. The species should be noticeably larger than any other elements. Any artistic style or medium accepted, except for photography, but it must be flat, two-dimensional art.
    • What does Restore the Wild mean to you? – Submission should reflect your own interpretation of Restore the Wild’s mission to restore and create natural habitats vital to the survival of Virginia’s wildlife. Wildlife depicted may or may not include the eligible species (Loggerhead Shrike), but should include at least one imperiled species as listed in Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan (see here for a list). Any plant life depicted in the piece should be of plants native to Virginia. Any artistic style or medium accepted, except for photography, but it must be a two-dimensional work. Design may include DWR’s Restore the Wild logo (file available here), but this is not required.
  4. Each artist may submit no more than two original works.
  5. Each submission must be an original work of the artist’s own creation. It must not be copied nor duplicated from any previously published art of any medium, including a photograph, painting, drawing, or from images of any kind previously published on the Internet.
  6. Each submission must be a two-dimensional work (not photography) and in the eligible medium for their specified category (see category details above).
  7. All artwork should be submitted unframed with a maximum size of 11”x14” (portrait or landscape orientation). Artwork should be loosely covered with a protective overleaf, although not framed or covered with glass. For display purposes, we suggest that artwork be matted over with bright white matting. The matting should be 1″ wide. We suggest using a 1/8″ masonite board or foamcore.
  8. Signatures are not permitted on the front of your artwork.
  9. All art entered in the 2022 contest will be held for a potential exhibition following the contest. Pieces selected for the exhibit will be at the discretion of the DWR. Exhibit location, dates, and duration, if in-person, are to be announced.
  10. Artwork will be returned by August 2022. No artist may obtain his or her work immediately after the contest. After the Restore the Wild contest and display period, art is returned to the address submitted on the contest entry form. No individual boxes or shipping material can be saved or returned. Please do not submit art with a P.O. Box return address; also, please submit working phone numbers. Please notify the DWR of any changes to your return address by emailing [email protected].
  11. Each artist should include return postage with their entries. Please provide this in the form of a personal check (made out to Treasurer of Virginia) or a postage-paid return envelope or label.
  12. The winning artworks will become the property of the DWR. The DWR is authorized to sell, distribute, display, reproduce, or otherwise use said artworks at its discretion. Artworks may have the Restore the Wild graphic/text added to it, but not in a way that will obscure any major portion of the works.
  13. The winning artists will have their selection promoted through the DWR’s content channels in recognition of their work, including:
    • Used in various promotional materials for Restore the Wild efforts throughout 2022
    • Posted on Facebook and Instagram with the announcement of the artist as the winner of the Restore the Wild annual artwork winner, either tagging them or including a link to their website
    • A short article about the artist and their work in the Restore the Wild quarterly newsletter, which will include a link to their website
    • A press release
    • Recognition of the artist’s accomplishment to the DWR board and the agency
    • An announcement of the art selection in Virginia Wildlife magazine
  14. All entries must be received by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources before 5 p.m. on January 28, 2022. Entries postmarked by January 26, 2022 will also be accepted.

A signed copy of this rules agreement document must accompany your submission.

Mailing Address for Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources:

Restore the Wild Art: Attention – Brian Moyer
7870 Villa Park Drive Suite 400 P.O. Box 90778
Henrico, VA 23228