Art Contest
7th International Sea Duck Conference

Virtual Event: 8-11 January 2024

Submissions Open: 27 October 2023

Submission Deadline: 8 December 2023

Awards Notification: 15 January 2024

The 7th International Sea Duck Conference (ISDC) is seeking entries from artists interested in displaying their sea duck-themed artwork during our virtual conference event.

Attracting sea duck enthusiasts from around the globe, the ISDC is a platform to discuss shared interests in sea duck research, conservation, science, management, and community connections. The conference theme is: Bridging Communities: Human Connections to Sea Ducks. We hope to showcase the connections that humans make to sea ducks through artwork.

VIRTUAL EXHIBIT: Each artist is invited to submit as many as two (2) pieces of artwork to the Sea Duck Virtual Gallery. Artwork will be displayed during conference proceedings from 8-11 January 2024. Artwork available for sale is encouraged, but not necessary for entry.

ELIGIBILITY:

• All ages welcome.
• Submissions must be the artist’s own, original work.
• Artwork must feature Sea Ducks.
• Sea duck art in all media types and styles are welcomed, including but not limited to
  • Painting, drawing, printmaking
  • Sculpture or carving (including decoys)
  • Collage, mixed media
  • Fiber art – textile – ceramics - jewelry
  • Digital art
  • Other

TO APPLY:

• No entry fee!
• Art Exhibition and Contest Entry Form for the 7th International Sea Duck Conference
• Full Name, email address, State/Province/Territory and Country
• Website and/or social media links (optional)
• Artist statement (<500 character): Please tell us about yourself and your connection to sea ducks.
• Title of Artwork
• Description of Artwork (2-4 sentences)
• Artists can submit up to 5 high resolution images per piece of artwork (>300 dpi and 2,000 x 2,000 pixels, <10 MB combined) to show different angles of the piece. Each image submitted must have a unique identifier (ex. LastName_Title_1, LastName_Title_2). Accepted file formats: JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PDF
• Sea duck species include Common Eider, King Eider, Steller’s Eider, Spectacled Eider, White-winged Scoter (Velvet Scoter), Surf Scoter, Black Scoter (Common Scoter), Long-tailed Duck, Harlequin Duck, Common Goldeneye, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Smew, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser (Goosander), Red-breasted Merganser, Brazilian Merganser, Scaly-sided Merganser, New Zealand Merganser (extinct), and Labrador Duck (extinct).

PRIZES:

All submissions will be reviewed by the 7th ISDC volunteer Art Committee. All entries will be displayed in our virtual conference venue, with finalists selected for awards by the Committee. Cash prizes will be awarded for 1st place ($700 CAD) and runner-up ($350 CAD).

Any questions can be directed to: seaduckconference@gmail.com

USE OF IMAGE(S):

We respect your rights. You retain full copyright in your images, and we only use them in direct connection with the Contest. Every image published by the Sea Duck Conference is credited to its owner.

Your personal information is collected for the purpose of administering your entry and keeping you abreast of news about the award. This information is kept securely and confidentially and is not shared.

Terms and Rules:

All artwork must be original work, by the entrant. No 3rd party may own or control the artwork and must not infringe upon trademark, copyright, moral rights, intellectual rights, or rights of privacy on any entity or person.

Entries

1. Entries must be submitted electronically using the Sea Duck Conference: Art Exhibition and Contest Entry Form.
2. Each artist may submit up to two (2) art pieces for the contest.
3. Artists can submit up to five (5) images for each contest entry to show different angles of the piece.
4. All artworks must be original work, by the entrant. No 3rd party may own or control the artwork and must not infringe upon trademark, copyright, moral rights, intellectual rights, or rights of privacy on any entity or person.
5. Artwork(s) submitted must include one or more species in the Tribe Mergini (living or extinct). Sea Ducks include Eiders, Scoters, Mergansers, Goldeneye, Long-tails, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Smew.
6. Examples of art submissions include, but are not limited to, images of artwork in the following mediums: painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture or carving (including decoys), collage, mixed media, fiber art – textile – ceramics – jewelry, digital art, etc.
7. Entries are due by 11:59PM Pacific Time on December 8, 2023. Late entries will not be accepted.
8. By submitting artwork to the contest, the artist and/or artist’s parent, guardian, or legal representative agrees that the ISDC will possess the right to display, reproduce or use submitted artwork at any time in the future in any media, including online, without the prior approval of, or compensation of the artist or the artist’s parent, guardian or legal representative. Formally, this means that artist grants to the ISDC a license to use, copy, publish, publicly perform, distribute, or exhibit the artist’s artwork. This license is perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, and non-exclusive (with the right to sublicense). All published artwork will be credited with a copyright notice in the following form: “© Artist’s Name”.
9. The contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law.

Guardian Consent

10. Artists under the age of 18 must have a parent, guardian or legal representative provide their electronic signature on the Sea Duck Conference: Art Exhibition and Contest Entry Form to indicate agreement with these Contest Terms and Rules.

Selection and Prizes

11. Entries will be judged by the 7th ISDC Art Committee. All decisions are final. 7th ISDC reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is deemed inappropriate or does not conform to stated contest rules.
12. First prize will be awarded $700 CAD and the runner-up $350 CAD. Both will receive a social media feature. All contest entries will be displayed at the 7th ISDC Virtual Art Exhibition.
13. Winners will be notified by email by 15 January 2024. If no response is received after 10 business days, a new winner will be selected and the previous winner will forfeit all rights to the prize.