Announcing Winners of 2021 Endangered Species Youth Art Contest

For Immediate Release: May 4, 2021

Contact: Jeanne Dodds [email protected] (360) 321-1944

Leda Huta, [email protected], (202) 320-6467

Winners of 2021 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest Announced

Washington 17-Year-Old Wins Grand Prize

WASHINGTON, DC – The Endangered Species Coalition proudly announced the winners of the 2021 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest, including the grand prize winner, Phoebe C., a  Washington State high school student.

The contest was an integral part of the 16th annual national Endangered Species Day, which occurs this year on Friday, May 21st. The art contest engages school children in grades K-12 in expressing their appreciation for our nation’s most imperiled wildlife, and promotes national awareness of the importance of saving endangered species. The winning art entries can be viewed on the Endangered Species Coalition blog.
“I see art as a useful method for raising awareness of the dramatic decrease in population of these imperiled species,” said Kaylee D., 12-year-old first place winner from Georgia. “I am able to create and use my art to show the beauty of these imperiled species in hopes of motivating people to help protect, conserve and restore many imperiled species.”

Contest winners were selected by a panel of eight artists, photographers and conservationists, including David Littschwager, a freelance photographer and regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine, as well as Susan Middletown, a photographer who has collaborated with Littschwager and whose own work has been published in four books, and Alice Tangerini, botanical illustrator for the Smithsonian Institution.

“We owe it to this generation of children to pass down healthy ecosystems brimming with wildlife,” said Leda Huta, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Every year, their artwork demonstrates how deeply they feel for nature and all of its wondrous creatures – large and small.”

The 2021 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest winners are:

Grand Prize: Phoebe C. (age 16), Maple Valley, WA

First Place: Kaylee D.  (age 12), Johns Creek, GA

First Place Winners in Grade Categories:

Grades K-2: Jayden L., [age 7], Cary, NC

Grades 3-5: Elie C. [age 10], Portland, OR

Grades 6-8: Heidi B. [age 13], Saratoga Glen, CA

Grades 9-12: Damion S. [age 17], Denver, CO

The grand prize winner, Phoebe C. will receive a $200.00 certificate for art supplies, a virtual art lesson by a professional artist and educator, $300 in funding toward the purchase of native plants for pollinators, from Endangered Species Coalition’s Pollinator Protectors campaign, and a $50 gift certificate toward tickets to the student artist’s favorite museum of art, natural history, science and technology, or culture. In addition, the Grand Prize Winner’s teacher has been awarded a $200.00 certificate toward the purchase of art supplies for their classroom.

Endangered Species Day was first proclaimed by the United States Congress in 2006. It is a celebration of the nation’s wildlife and wild places and is an opportunity for people to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species, as well as everyday actions they can take to help protect them. Across the country, organizations hold special events to celebrate Endangered Species Day each year on or around the third Friday in May. For more information about the annual art contest, winners and Endangered Species Day, visit www.endangeredspeciesday.org.

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