Multiple Blue Ribbons-Winner and First-Time Contest Victor Are
Awarded Best in Show in State’s Annual Wildlife Art Competition
A 10-time Delaware stamp contest winner who added another blue ribbon to his run of artistic success and a first-time winner of a state stamp competition have claimed top honors in Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp and Trout Stamp art contests, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced. Well-known in Delaware for his seven winning state trout stamp entries, as well as for three previous waterfowl stamp competition wins, Jeffrey Klinefelter took Best in Show again for his painting of a redhead duck which will grace the 2024/25 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp. A painting of a rainbow trout by Trevor Dumaw of Colorado Springs, Colo., was awarded first place and will be featured on the 2024 Delaware Trout Stamp.
The annual stamp art competition drew 14 entries for the 2024/25 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and 12 entries for the 2024 Trout Stamp. The Waterfowl Stamp contest specified that submitted artwork must include the motif of a redhead duck on open water. Trout Stamp artwork entries could depict a rainbow, brown or brook trout.
As the 2024/25 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp winner, Klinefelter, of Etna Green, Ind., receives a $2,500 cash prize and 150 artist’s proofs of the limited edition print series of his first-place entry. An artist who likes who likes to paint from his own photos, Klinefelter over the past 30 years has won numerous contests in states including Nevada, Ohio, Delaware, California, Oklahoma, Oregon, North and South Carolina, Indiana and Colorado. After winning the 2023 Delaware Trout Stamp last year, he rang up a fourth blue ribbon in Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp contest.
As the 2024 Delaware Trout Stamp winner, Dumaw receives a $250 cash prize and retains the rights to reproduce and sell prints of the stamp artwork. Dumaw credits his passion for wildlife art to countless hunting and fishing trips in upstate New York, where he was born and raised. At age 20, Dumaw put his career on hold to enlist in the U.S. States Army as a military policeman. He was deployed to the Balkans before completing an overseas tour in South Korea, where he was assigned to the United Nations Joint Security Battalion, and a deployment to Baghdad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dumaw finished his military career as a police investigator before being honorably discharged. As an artist, his preferred subject is the wildlife he’s surrounded by at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains.
Other winners were:
- 2024/25 Waterfowl Stamp – Second place: Guy Crittenden, Richmond, Va.; Third place: John Stewart, Wilmington, Del. Honorable mentions: Caleb Metrich, Lake Tomahawk, Wis.; Marion Orchard, Severn, Md.; Michael Kensinger, Altoona, Pa.; and Jonathan Milo, Monroe, Conn.
- 2023 Trout Stamp – Second place: Dennis Arp, Edison, Neb., brook trout; Third place: Tory Farris, Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, brown trout. Honorable mentions: Tiffany Beczkalo, Dallas, Ga., rainbow trout; Walter Wincek, Elyria, Ohio, brook trout; Matt Doyle, Everett, Pa., brook trout.
Artwork in each contest was judged by a different set of five judges, with each judge separately evaluating and scoring the respective contest artwork in person.
The 2024/25 Waterfowl Stamp judges were: Carrie Lingo, Delaware Ducks Unlimited representative; Drew Clendaniel, stamp collector; Lori Crawford, Delaware State University Professor of Art; Elio Battista, Advisory Council on Wildlife and Freshwater Fish member, and Shawn Sullivan, wildlife biologist.
The 2024 Trout Stamp judges were: Noel Kuhrt, stamp collector; Ed O’Donnell, Trout Unlimited member; Sam Palermo, avid angler; Linda Parkowski, Advisory Council on Wildlife and Freshwater Fish member; and Mike Steiger, fisheries biologist.
The winning 2024/25 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp will be available for purchase July 1, 2024, and the winning 2024 Delaware Trout Stamp will be available for purchase Jan. 1, 2024.
The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife, in partnership with Ducks Unlimited, started the Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and print program in 1980 to raise funds for waterfowl conservation, including acquiring and improving wetland habitats vital to the survival of migratory waterfowl. To date, more than $3.6 million has been raised. A Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and hunting license are required for most waterfowl hunters.
Delaware began requiring trout stamps for anglers in the 1950s, and a Delaware Trout Stamp and a general fishing license are required for most anglers to fish in designated trout waters during certain seasons. Funds from the sale of the stamps are used to purchase trout to stock in select streams in northern New Castle County and in two downstate ponds.
More information about Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp contest can be found at de.gov/waterfowlstamp. More information about the Trout Stamp contest can be found at de.gov/troutstamp.
~ DNREC