In this, the third year of the Restore the Wild Artwork Competition, we invited artists to create pieces that celebrate snot-otter and also reflect Restore the Wild’s mission to restore and create natural habitats vital to the survival of Virginia’s wildlife. In a new expansion of the contest, we’ve partnered with Artspace, a gallery in Richmond, to display the entries for the competition. We’d love to have you come view them!

Artists have been submitting pieces in the Natural History Illustration, Youth, and Artistic Expression categories, and we’ve received more than 100 entries! We gave the artists quite a challenge: to depict one of Virginia’s most compelling, but perhaps least aesthetically pleasing, species—the eastern hellbender. Eastern hellbenders are the largest salamanders in North America. They are an aquatic species that prefer to live in clear, healthy, fast-flowing streams and rivers with river bottoms composed of sand, gravel, and abundant large, flat rocks. In Virginia, they are found only in the southwest part of the commonwealth, and they are listed as a Tier 1 Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Virginia’s Wildlife Action Plan. 

The submitted entries will be on display at the Elisabeth Flynn-Chapman Gallery at Artspace, 2833-A Hathaway Road, Richmond, VA 23225, from Friday, February 24 until Saturday, March 18. On Friday, February 24, there will be a public opening reception from 6:00pm to 9:00pm (casual dress). Thereafter, the exhibition will be open to the public daily, Tuesday – Sunday, noon to 4:00pm. On Friday, March 17, there will be a closing reception for artists and their guests and Restore the Wild members and donors from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm (casual dress).