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This Earth Day, April 22, marks the launch of the 9th annual Robert Bateman Get To Know Contest.
If you, or someone you know, are 18 years of age or younger, we encourage you to create artwork, writing, or photography inspired by your encounters with the natural world.
Over the last decade, the contest has received tens of thousands of nature-themed art and writing entries; this year, a new digital photography category is being added to the contest.
The 2009 contest theme is biodiversity in anticipation of the United Nations’ International Year of Biodiversity in 2010.
Biodiversity, short for “biological diversity,” encompasses all living things on Earth and their interactions with each other and their environment. Earth is home to a dizzying array of wonderful, mysterious life forms and the Get to Know Program hopes youth who participate in this contest will discover a sense of connection with the natural world. Exploring the wild plants and animals in your own neighbourhood can provide a greater appreciation of the beauties of nature while you learn more about biodiversity. Parks, zoos, museums, and aquariums are also great places to discover exciting species.
Winners of this year’s Get to Know Contest will have the chance to receive fantastic prizes. Your artwork will be featured on Canada's first ever Youth Wildlife Habitat Conservation Stamp; you’ll take a trip to Parks Canada’s Palisades Stewardship Education Centre in Jasper, Alberta; your work will be published in the nationally distributed 2010 Robert Bateman Get to Know Contest Calendar; and you could win a digital camera, art supplies, books, and much more!
Nature Canada has been a partner and committed supporter of the Get to Know Contest for six years, and this is the first year that we have been the premiere partner.
We support this contest because it helps achieve a very important goal: connecting young people to the natural world. As young people explore the natural world, they gain a greater understanding of its beauty, its gifts, and its fragility. It also helps you to explore your own creativity, and what better source is there for artistic inspiration than nature?
The contest runs until May 27, 2009. Visit http://www.gettoknow.ca/en/kids/contest/ for more information and to submit your entry.
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