Next year marks the 100th anniversary of elk in Michigan. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources invites artists to help celebrate this milestone by creating a one-of a-kind poster depicting the history of Michigan’s elk. The chosen design in the “100th anniversary of Michigan elk” poster-drawing contest will be reproduced and distributed to elk enthusiasts across the nation, and the winner will receive an outdoors prize package.
In 1918, seven elk were relocated to Wolverine, Michigan, from the western United States. Today’s healthy and abundant elk population in the northern Lower Peninsula is due to the management and conservation efforts of the DNR and partners over the last century.
“We are excited to see different interpretations of the 100th anniversary celebration of Michigan’s elk,” said DNR wildlife communications coordinator Katie Keen. “Please share with any artist or designer you know. A great outdoors prize package will be awarded to the winner, not to mention that this poster will be shared with elk enthusiasts everywhere.”
Those interested in participating in the elk poster-drawing contest should submit an email of intent by July 1 to keenk1@michigan.gov, including the artist’s name, mailing address and phone number. The final submission deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1.
Contest guidelines are as follows:
- Anyone can enter the contest. Children under the age of 13 need parental permission.
- Work must be original and submitted by the artist. Entries must be two-dimensional, created using either traditional methods (pens, pencils, crayons, charcoal, oil paint, acrylic paint, watercolor, etc.) or a modern digital illustration process.
- Designs must portray elk (one or more than one; it’s the artist’s choice) in Michigan habitat.
- The following text must be included within the design: 100th anniversary, 2018, elk and Michigan
- Accepted file formats: JPEG, TIFF, PDF
- Maximum file size 10 MB
- Submit entries to keenk1@michigan.gov.
- The winner will be contacted in early September.
For hand-drawn designs:
- Entries can be designed on 8.5-inch by 11-inch or 11-inch by 17-inch paper.
- If the poster cannot be scanned, please photograph it and submit a high-resolution photograph.
For digital designs:
- Files should be 20 inches by 33 inches and have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
- TIFF formats should be flattened.
- CMYK color space only.
“Good luck to all the artists,” said Keen. “We can’t wait to see all the different designs.”
