Student Marine Art Celebrating Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary Species on Display at Cape Cod National Seashore through mid-January

Date: December 21, 2012
Contact: Sue Haley, District Interpreter, 508-255-3421 ext. 15

A display of winners from the 2012 Marine Art Contest sponsored by Massachusetts Marine Educators is now on display at Cape Cod National Seashore's Salt Pond Visitor Center. The artwork was created by students from schools across Massachusetts and captures some of the diversity of species found in nearby Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

The show includes winners and honorable mentions from all five contest categories - high school, middle school, elementary school, scientific illustration (all grades) and computer graphics (all grades). The 2013 Marine Art contest is now underway with a deadline of April 26.Rules for the 2013 Marine Art contest can be found at the MME website at www.massmarineeducators.org or the Stellwagen Bank sanctuary website at http://stellwagen.noaa.gov. Winning artwork from the past few years can also be viewed at the sanctuary website.

The annual Marine Art contest is a program of the Massachusetts Marine Educators (MME), a nonprofit grass-roots organization of teachers, informal educators, students, educational institutions, and others dedicated to the goals of developing a marine literate society and promoting awareness of the ocean world by integrating marine studies into existing curricula. The contest theme is "Amazing Ocean Creatures of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary."

Co-sponsors for the annual art contest include Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS), New England Aquarium, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and Stellwagen Alive, Friends of the National Marine Sanctuary.The traveling art exhibit is sponsored by the sanctuary and MME.

Cape Cod winners place in all categories, including, High School category, 1^st Place: Keegen Gilmore, Nauset Regional High School, and 2^nd Place: Mary Margolir, Falmouth High School. Other first, second, and third place winners, and numerous honorable mentions, come from Harwich Port, Barnstable and Falmouth, Provincetown, Bourne, Dennis, Yarmouth, and the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich (formerly Orleans).

For more information on the art contest, contact Anne Smrcina, Education Coordinator at SBNMS, 781 545-8026 x204

The display will remain at the national seashore through mid-January.

If You Go: Salt Pond Visitor Center is located at the intersection of Route 6 and Nauset Road in Eastham and is open daily from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The center includes a lobby with expansive views of Salt Pond, Nauset Marsh, and the Atlantic; a museum featuring the park's natural and cultural stories; staff to assist with trip planning; and a store with books, maps, puzzles, games, and apparel. There are short films shown throughout the day. The Buttonbush and Nauset Marsh Trails, and the Nauset Bike Trail are located nearby. For more information on Cape Cod National Seashore programs call 508-255-3421, or check the park's website, www.nps.gov/caco.