Artists Gear Up For Wyoming’s Conservation Stamp Art Contest

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is gearing up to open the entry window for its 2027 Conservation Stamp Art Contest, the annual showcase that puts one artist’s wildlife masterpiece on the state’s coveted collectible conservation stamp.

This year’s featured muse? The Arctic grayling — a dazzling native fish known for its shimmering colors and dramatic, sail-like dorsal fin. It’s one of Wyoming’s most iconic cold-water species, and now it’s ready for its close-up on canvas.

Professional artists can submit their grayling-inspired works Jan. 2 through March 31, 2026. Student artists don’t have to wait — youth submissions are open now and will close April 10, 2026. Full contest rules, formats, and submission details can be found on the Game and Fish Conservation Stamp Art webpage.

Meanwhile, the spotlight is already shining on the 2026 stamp winner: Michael Patrick Bailey of Newburgh, Indiana, whose striking pika artwork will appear on next year’s conservation stamp.

Last year's contest featured the American Pika. The winning piece came from Michael Patrick Bailey from Newburgh, Indiana.

For this contest, your art has to be 100% your own creation — no sneaky copies, no “inspired” replicas, no tracing that postcard you found in Yellowstone.

If the artwork is basically someone else’s idea, layout, or photo—even if you change the size or have permission—it’s a no-go. Copying a photo from a book, magazine, website, postcard, or anywhere else? Still out. The composition and colors belong to the original creator.

But good news: if you take your own photo and use that as your reference, you’re golden. You chose the lighting, the pose, the whole vibe — so it counts as your artistic vision.

Use your own eyes, your own photos, and your own imagination. If the judges discover it’s copied, the piece gets disqualified faster than a trout slipping off the line.

So be honest, be creative, and make something that’s unmistakably you.