My name is Jade Gilliam, and I am an early-career biologist with a passion for scientific illustration and wildlife art. I moved to Las Vegas, NV, from Alabama last year and have fallen in love with the vast array of unique ecosystems here. To reflect that diversity, I included a few of my favorite species that inhabit different biomes across Nevada. In light of water scarcity, I wanted to not only showcase desert beauty but also highlight the life-giving water systems that keep our Silver State thriving. For the style of the piece, I imitated linocut printmaking using my iPad and Procreate (drawing software)."

Species depicted: Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), American Kestral (Falco sparverius), Costa's Hummingbird (Calypte costae), White-Faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi), Black-throated Gray Warbler ( Setophaga nigrescens), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), and Western Whiptail ( Aspidoscelis tigris).

Here is my Instagram handle:  @Its_jade_boii_ 

TikTok: @thebackyardbiologist

Goldie Shih is a Taiwanese American artist based in Southern Nevada. Her art is shaped by passions for wildlife and plant ecology, environmental stewardship, & community building through shared outdoor adventures.

This design is inspired by her time doing field conservation work throughout the Southwest, where she saw loggerhead shrikes and their impaled prey on barbed wire and spiny desert plants. She finds them fascinating as songbirds with their raptor-like hunting behaviors and bandit-like black eye masks. You can find more of her work on instagram @goldie.shih or at www.goldieshih.com

This design is a personal tribute to the wild, rugged beauty of Nevada. I wanted to take the state's most iconic symbols—the Mountain Bluebird and the golden Sagebrush—and layer them over that unmistakable Nevada silhouette to create something that feels like home. The goal was to use bold lines and vibrant colors to capture the energy of the high desert and the wide-open skies of the Great Basin. It's really just about celebrating the unique landscape and the natural spirit of the Silver State in a clean, modern way.

By Baker Elementary School. Scroll to see the glimpse into the process!

Baker, NV, is located in northeastern Nevada and is the gateway community to Great Basin National Park. We are a small, but mighty, community of 120 residents. There are 12 students who attend the local school.

The class studied birds of the Great Basin, in particular the species that seen in the Baker area. Each student researched one bird and then created pencil and oil pastel drawings. Artwork was compiled into one design for the t-shirt contest that showcases the following
species: Golden Eagle (by Lincoln), Great Horned Owl (by Brennan) Saw Whet Owl (by Daniel), Northern Harrier (by Dallee), Raven (by Wrangler), Magpie (by Martin), Pinyon Jay (by Santiago), Townsend Solitaire (by Aranza), Mountain Chickadee (by Kody), Rock Wren (by Erick), Pygmy Nuthatch (by Decker), Rufous Hummingbird (by Alexis).

Karla Shoup is a self-taught artist who resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has worked in multiple mediums including beads and fused glass, but is currently obsessing over watercolor. Her subjects are inspired by the wildlife she encounters in the urban and natural wildernesses of the Southwest, especially the feathered kind.

"Readiness" is a true story of an alert male Great-Tailed Grackle who posed bravely on a fire hydrant in a Petco parking lot. The colors were great and the juxtaposition of the bird protecting his territory and the fire hydrant ready to protect ours was too good to pass up!

Mountain Bluebirds by Candace Wells

Art by Fazail

I’ve always liked drawing, even though I didn’t think I was very good at it at first. Over time, I started changing things and trying to make my drawings more meaningful. That’s when I realized I could use art as a way to express myself and connect with others.

Inspired by a Black-throated Sparrow hanging out in the yard!