The results are in, and two artists have won top honors in Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp and Trout Stamp art contests. A painting of a tundra swan by Broderick Crawford of Tiger, GA will grace the 2022/23 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp. In the 2022 Delaware Trout Stamp art contest, George Bradford of Georgetown, DE took the top prize with his painting of a brown trout. Mr. Bradford also won second place in the Trout Stamp contest for his painting of a rainbow trout.
The annual stamp art competition drew seven entries for the 2022/23 Waterfowl Stamp and 12 entries for the 2022 Trout Stamp. The Waterfowl Stamp contest specified that submitted artwork must include a tundra swan. Trout Stamp artwork entries could depict a rainbow, brown or brook trout. Both contests are sponsored by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).
As the 2022/23 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp winner, Broderick Crawford receives a $2,500 cash prize and 150 artist’s proofs of the limited edition print series of his first-place entry. Previously, Crawford took home a first-place win in Delaware’s 2019 Trout Stamp competition. Delaware artist George Bradford receives a $250 prize and retains the rights to reproduce and sell prints of the stamp artwork. Bradford has entered the state’s Trout Stamp competition annually since its inception, placing multiple times with artwork that has depicted each of the three eligible trout species.
This is Bradford’s fourth first-place win for the Delaware Trout Stamp and the second time that he has been honored with both first and second place in the same year for his entries. Maine’s Tory Farris took third place for a brook trout.
The winning 2022/23 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp will be available for purchase July 1, 2022, and the winning 2022 Delaware Trout Stamp will be available for purchase on Jan. 1, 2022.
Delaware began requiring trout stamps for anglers in the 1950s. A Delaware Trout Stamp and a general fishing license are required for most anglers to fish in designated trout waters during certain seasons, with the funds from the sale of the stamps used by DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife to purchase and stock trout in two downstate ponds and seven streams in northern New Castle County.
