Minnesota brothers finish 1-2-3 in 野性生物 art contest
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― Three Minnesota brothers who have 支配するd the 競争の激しい world of 野性生物 stamp 絵 pulled off a trifecta Saturday, taking the 最高の，を越す three 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs in the prestigious 連邦の Duck Stamp art contest.
Joseph Hautman of Plymouth won with an アクリルの 絵 of a pair of trumpeter swans in his fifth 連邦の Duck Stamp contest victory. His work will grace the 2016-17 stamp, which goes on sale across the nation in June. Stamp sales raise about $25 million a year from hunters and collectors to 基金 waterfowl habitat programs.
In second was Robert Hautman of Delano, with an アクリルの 絵 of a pair of mallard ducks. James Hautman of Chaska took third with his own アクリルの 絵 of a mallard pair.
The brothers have won a 連合させるd 11 連邦の Duck Stamp contests, but this was first time they've won all three 最高の，を越す 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs in what's considered the ultimate prize in 野性生物 art. Their talents were even 公式文書，認めるd in a subplot of the Oscar-winning 1996 movie "Fargo" ― made by their childhood friends, Joel and Ethan Coen.
Robert Hautman has said the challenge of the 連邦の Duck Stamp contest is that it attracts so many good artists. "It's not 平易な to 勝利，勝つ," he said last December. "You've got to get lucky."
While the winning artists don't get cash prizes, they get bragging 権利s and make good money selling prints of their winning 入ること／参加（者）s. The Hautmans' 作品 are prized by collectors, and their designs appear on a 抱擁する 範囲 of home decor like ru gs and 一面に覆う／毛布s and にわか雨 curtains.
The 勝利者s were 発表するd by the U.S. Fish and 野性生物 Service at the 国家の 自然保護 Training 中心 in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where 10 of the 157 入ること／参加（者）s made it to the final 一連の会議、交渉／完成する.
"I congratulate Joseph Hautman on his 勝利，勝つ and the entire Hautman family on their artistic talent," Jerome Ford, the 連邦の 機関's assistant director for 移住する birds, said in a 声明. "This is not just any piece of art, but one whose 衝撃 will be felt for 世代s to come. Duck Stamps have helped to 保護する more than six and a half million acres of waterfowl habitat in our 国家の 野性生物 避難 System; now that is a 継続している 遺産／遺物."
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Online:
U.S. Fish and 野性生物 Service: http://www.fws.gov
