Merlin Szasz is the 2009 recipient of the American Numismatic Association’s Numismatic Art Award for Excellence in Medallic Sculpture. The Rhode Island artist will accept the honor Aug. 8 at the ANA World’s Fair of Money® in Los Angeles.
Born in Lima, Ohio, Szasz earned a bachelor’s degree in art education from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He received the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award for Sculpture (1964-65) and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) John R. Frazier Award for Excellence in Teaching (1996). Szasz is currently a professor of design in Foundation Studies at RISD. Read the rest of this entry »
The American Numismatic Association announced Philadelphia artist Jim Licaretz is the 2008 recipient of the ANA’s Numismatic Art Award for Excellence in Medallic Sculpture (NAAEMS). Today, the United States Mint let the public know and praised Licaretz for receiving the award.
“We are pleased the panel of judges recognized Jim’s body of work,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. “Jim’s artistry is helping the United States Mint achieve a new level of design excellence.”
Licaretz was a United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver from 1986 to 1989, and returned to the U.S. Mint in 2006 as a Medallic Sculpture. Recent bodies of work include the Mint’s 2008 Bald Eagle Proof silver dollar coin and the Andrew Jackson Presidential $1 obverse.
"To be honored with the American Numismatic Association’s award is quite a welcome surprise," said Licaretz. "There is a great responsibility in giving form to one’s experience of life. Medallic sculpture is a unique way of recording and sharing these experiences."
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Philadelphia artist Jim Licaretz is the 2008 recipient of the American Numismatic Association’s Numismatic Art Award for Excellence in Medallic Sculpture. He will accept the honor on Aug. 2 at the ANA World’s Fair of Money® in Baltimore.
A medallic artist at the U.S. Mint since 2006, Licaretz was a sculptor/engraver there from 1986 to 1989. He spent a year with The Franklin Mint and was a master sculptor for Mattel, Inc. for five years.
In between, he taught life modeling and figure sculpture at Philadelphia’s Fleischer Art Memorial, and was a member of the faculty at Otis-Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles (1992-94) and Academy of Art University in San Francisco (1995-2000).
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