After School Art Student Selected as Contest Winner

Peace Hawley Joppich’s watercolor painting of a Great Lakes Piping Plover was selected as the winner of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore’s 2018 kids’ artwork contest. Peace, 9, lives in Maple City and is one of the Glen Arbor Arts Center’s After School Art kids – along with her brother, Odin, 7. They both attend Leland Public School. Peace’s composition will be the artwork used on the Park’s 2019 Annual Park Entrance Pass.

SBDNL Ranger Paul Purifoy announced the winner at a ceremony on December 15 at SBD Headquarters in Empire, Michigan. This is the third year for the contest. Kids 12 years or younger submitted drawings and painting from August through October. This year, a total of 77 entries were received from young artists living in many different states, including Michigan, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The contest is part of the Park’s effort to spotlight the “Every Kid in a Park” program. Peace will receive a selection of gifts from the park’s bookstore High fives, Peace!

Every year, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore sells over 11,000 Annual Park Entrance Passes. The pass provides free entry for 12 months for the pass holder and occupants in a single, private non-commercial vehicle. If entry is by foot, bicycle, or organized group not part of a commercial tour, the pass admits the pass holder and three adults (16 years of age or older). Children under 16 are admitted free.