News Releases

Manatee Decal Art Contest for high school students

News Release

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Media contact: Patricia Behnke, 850-251-2130

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invites high school art students across the state to participate in a contest to create a piece of manatee artwork that will be used on the 2011-2012 manatee decal.

Students in grades 9-12 in Florida should coordinate with their school's art teacher to submit the artwork, because each school may submit no more than five entries. Home-schooled students also are eligible to enter the contest. Contest details and forms are available online at MyFWC.com/Manatee.

Decals depicting manatees are available at any Florida county tax collector's office by donating $5 or more to the Save the Manatee Trust Fund. Money from the sale of these decals supports manatee-protection efforts, such as rehabilitation, rescue, research, enforcement and public education. Vehicle owners can support manatees by including their donation when they register their vehicle or vessel.

November is Manatee Awareness Month in Florida. Manatees become more visible in the rivers and springs this month as they move from the estuaries and bays seeking warmer waters. As a result, boating speed zones changed in many coastal counties on Nov. 15, and the FWC advises boaters to be on the lookout for the endangered Florida manatee.

Manatee Decal Art Contest Requirements:

• All entries must be the sole, original work of the artist.
• Student artists must attend a Florida public, private or home school for high school, grades 9-12.
• Art teachers may submit no more than five entries per school. Home-school parents may submit one student entry per home-school group.
• The designs should be in full color, using acrylic, gouache, oil, silkscreen, woodcut and/or digital art. The design may be realistic or abstract, as long as the image depicts a recognizable manatee.
• Designs must be formatted to an 11-inch by 8.5-inch horizontal format. The winning image will be cropped for an oval or circular border.
• Artwork should be affixed to a backboard and covered loosely with a protective covering.

Entries must be postmarked on or before Jan. 28, 2011. Failure to follow any of the requirements will disqualify entries from being considered for the contest. FWC artists and biologists will judge the entries in February. The winning design will be used to create a final decal for distribution through county tax collectors' offices around the state.

To view previous manatee decals, go to MyFWC.com/Manatee. For more information, please contact Bonnie Abellera at bonnie.abellera@MyFWC.com or call 850-617-6052.