SC Wildlife Federation is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 Forks, Knives & Spoonbills Art Contest. All entries depict the species which will be featured in this year’s Forks, Knives, & Spoonbills Conservation Dinner series, the Roseate Spoonbill, Prothonotary Warbler, American Kestrel, swallow-tail Kite, Painted Bunting, and the Northern Flicker. We are very grateful to all the artists who participated in the contest, and shared their artwork with us!

First place: Pam Corwin

Second place: Melissa Agostini

Third place: Mary McCarthy

The winner of the contest Pam Corwin is a fisheries and marine biologist with the SC Department of Natural Resources as well as an artist!

Pam said “I recently purchased an iPad to take my art to the next level and so it can travel with me. I had sketched the original drawing on traditional paper, took a photo, then added that as a layer. From there, I drew and colored it in. It took me awhile to figure out the composition but after I finally visualized it, I was pretty happy. I have a masters in biology with my thesis work focusing on avian ecology. So all these birds on the menu have left a mark on me. My favorite songbird is the loggerhead shrike but there’s nothing like seeing a painted bunting on your sunflowers or a swallowtail kite above your horses after a dragonfly hatch. Birds truly are magnificent.”

A Gathering at the Marsh by Melissa Agostini.

The third place entry by Mary McCarthy.

Please click through the gallery below to see the work of the other wonderful artists who participated in this contest!

The artists are listed L to R: Allison Couick Love, Caroline Staley, Millie Myers, Sara B. Bosworth, Wilma King, and Mary Elizabeth Kennedy Owen.