This week marks the lead up to World Lemur Day which falls on October 30 this year. As part of the Festival, the LCF put out a call for artist entries encouraging artists to submit works depicting lemurs, as a way to build awareness about, and inspire action to protect these endangered primates. Shelby Baillie, a senior at Ringling College of Art and Design was the first-place winner, while high school student Mika Fowler took second place. Baillie’s digital illustration titled, Lost Home secured her a $1,000 prize and the title of Lemur Artist of the Year, and both winning artworks will be added to LCF’s permanent art collection. Baillie talks about the important message she is conveying through her work, “I want to take this opportunity to talk about a very important issue through my art, about how we are destroying these beautiful creatures’ habitats and the homes that they live in, and I think that it’s very important to show the viewer and not sugarcoat it."

Click here to watch the awards ceremony.