Stamps have run a-fowl at the Great Falls Discovery Center. The center is currently home to the top entries of the 2024 Massachusetts Junior Duck Stamp competition. 

Every year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hosts a duck stamp competition as a way to promote bird habitat conservation. Wildlife artists are invited to submit their original designs, and the winning stamp is printed and sold to support conservation efforts. Similar to the adult competition, the junior duck stamp competition receives thousands of entries from students.

Entries are reviewed by judges in each state and each winning entry moves on to compete in the federal competition. Meanwhile, the top 90 designs from Massachusetts students were selected to be included in an exhibit traveling around the state, including four designs from Bement School students in Deerfield. 

In group one, which is open to students in kindergarten through third grade, Noelle Haigh received an honorable mention. In group three, which is open to students in grades seven through nine, ninth grader Nora Bianciardi and eighth grader Anna Kung received honorable mentions, and ninth grader Adriana Enriquez earned third place. 

Bement School art teacher Karen Gaudette said she was incredibly proud of her students, who worked on their stamps on their own time last year in order to meet the mid-March deadline. Gaudette simply told the students about the contest and offered feedback on the students work when requested. 

“They’re so gifted and driven,” Gaudette said about her current and former students, as Adriana and Nora have changed schools since last year. 

The competition gave the students an opportunity to grow as artists, try new styles beyond their comfort zone, and learn about different duck species and conservation efforts.

Nora is now a freshman at Northampton High School, and said she was inspired by the Ross’s goose, which was considered near extinct when the species was discovered in the 1800s, but through conservation efforts has returned to having a healthy population. 

She was impressed with the resiliency of the species, and added that she liked that the goose had a simple look which would allow her to play with lighting and the background. 

“At first I was a bit worried because its mostly a realism competition and I like to work with color and light,” Nora said. 

She said she worked on her piece on and off for four weeks but was eventually able to combine her love of color with the realistic style the competitions judges prefer.

Her stamp captures the small white goose with its dark tipped wings flying over a lake with a colorful sky. This was her first time competing in the duck stamp competition, and she was excited when she learned she placed among the top stamps.

Anna’s stamp features a Canada goose swimming around the pond at Boston Common, and was based on a photo she took one afternoon while in Boston. 

When not at school in Deerfield, Anna lives in Cambridge and said it was difficult finding an interesting duck to draw there, but there were a lot of geese that she took pictures of while searching for inspiration. 

“I was drawn to [geese] and wanted to see how [they] would look on paper,” Anna said.

She added that the Canada goose is “the classic goose.”

“They don’t get enough credit for what they are,” Anna said. 

Anna has competed in other art competitions before, but this was her first time submitting to the duck stamp contest. 

She said she’s always drawing, and has been since she was little, and spent a few hours on her goose. 

Both Anna and Nora said they will continue pursuing art in the future. Anna will be spending the winter in Florence, Italy, studying art with a studio there, and Nora will continue to play with light and color and exploring other mediums.

“No matter what I do art will be a big part of my life,” Nora said. 

The junior duck stamp exhibit will be on display in the Great Hall of the center on Avenue A through Jan. 16. After leaving Turners Falls the exhibit will travel to Boxborough. 

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com