Winners of 2020 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest Announced

WASHINGTON, DC – The Endangered Species Coalition proudly announced the winners of the 2020 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest, including the grand prize winner, Isis Stevens, a Englewood, Colorado 14-year old.

The contest was an integral part of the 15th annual national Endangered Species Day, which occurs this year on Friday, May 15. 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 online.
 
“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.”

Contest winners were selected by a panel of eight artists, photographers and conservationists, including Andrew Zuckerman, a noted wildlife photographer, filmmaker, 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.

“Through the visual arts, I try to celebrate our vanishing species, and I am glad to be joined by these inspiring young artists,” said wildlife photographer Andrew Zuckerman. “I hope these artists and their images will encourage action to protect rare and endangered species for future generations.”

The 2020 Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest winners are: 

Grand Prize: Isis Stevens  (age 14), Englewood, CO

Runner Up: Phoebe Miler  (age 16), Columbus, OH

First Place Winners in Grade Categories:

Grades K-2: Jiahao Jasper Truong (age 6), Walnut, CA
Grades 3-5: Sara Byun  (age 11), Brisbane, CA
Grades 6-8: Sophia Lynn Findley  (age 14), Kapolei, HI
Grades 9-12: Chang (Annie) Bian  (age 14), San Diego, CA

The grand prize winner, Stevens, will receive a special art lesson from a professional wildlife artist and $100 worth of art supplies of their choice.

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.