Rancho Cucamonga, CA – The Wildlife Art Festival featuring the annual Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest winner, will present its longstanding showcase event Saturday and Sunday, November 18 -19, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga. The event is organized and presented by the San Bernardino County Fish and Game Commission in conjunction with Bass Pro Shops.
Bob Hautman, an artist from Delano, Minn., is the winner of the 2017 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest. Hautman’s acrylic painting of a pair of mallards will be made into the 2018-2019 Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, or “Duck Stamp,” which will go on sale in late June 2018. This is Hautman’s third Federal Duck Stamp Contest win. His art previously appeared on the 1997-1998 and 2001-2002 Federal Duck Stamps.
Also on display alongside Hautman’s top entry, will be a pair of trumpeter swans painted by 12-year-old Isaac Schreiber, a talented young artist from Duffield, Va., who took top honors at the 2017 National Junior Duck Stamp Art Contest.
The festival exhibit will also showcase some of California’s finest wildlife artists including Lindsey Fogget, Carol Heiman-Greene, Gary Johnson, Cliff Barnes, Lee Kromschroeder, and Rob Sutton. In addition to the Duck Stamp displays, there will be art available for purchase, as well as several artists, including Mr. Hautman, on hand to discuss their work.
The Wildlife Art Festival began when top paintings from the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest were first shown on the west coast in 1983 after congress enacted a bill requiring that the annual winners be displayed in San Bernardino County. The Festival was hosted by the County Museum many years, and has grown and evolved over the years while maintaining its focus on wildlife and conservation.
Entry to the Wildlife Art Festival is free. Bass Pro Shops is located at 7777 Victoria Gardens Lane, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91739. For more information, contact San Bernardino County Fish and Game Commissioner Robert Olin at (909) 641-3476.
