April 12, 2018 – In 2018 there were over 40 entries for the American Medal of the Year (AMY) awarded by the American Medallic Sculpture Association. Committee Chairman, Mel Wacks, indicates that “The jurors remarked about the high quality of the entries, and took three rounds of voting to choose the winner – a 3 x 3 inch square art medal featuring the Black Crowned Night Heron by Heidi Wastweet, commissioned by Brookgreen Gardens.”
The winner of the American Medal of the Year Award was “Black Crowned Night Heron” by Heidi Wastweet, commissioned by Brookgreen Gardens.
Heidi writes “I chose the Black Crowned Night Heron as my subject based on the large population of them in Brookgreen’s Cypress Aviary. About 90% of the birds in the aviary are Black Crowned Night Herons who often trustingly let visitors walk up very close to them. I love spending time watching and photographing these noisy, entertaining birds but they are often overlooked by park visitors so I wanted to highlight them in a beautiful way. The two sides of the medal show two sides of the bird’s character – the serious, gruff side, and a playful, goofy side. The composition of the design is intended to not only be pleasing individually on each side but also displayed side by side joined to make a single fluid design so the birds face each other in a yin-yang fashion.”
Just over 1000 medals were struck to be given exclusively to Brookgreen members subscribing at the “Presidents Council” level ($275) and higher. Ordering information can be obtained at the Brookgreen Gardens website.
Second came the Shekel Prize Medal by German medallist Victor Huster of Baden-Baden.
The runner-up was the Shekel Prize Medal by Victor Huster of Baden-Baden, commissioned by the American Israel Numismatic Association. This extra-high relief medal will be awarded annually to the author of the best published work on the subject of Judaean, Israel, Holy Land or Judaic Numismatics. The medal design features an ancient Judaean Shekel stone weight, an ancient Judaean Shekel from the First Revolt, and a New Shekel coin of Israel (also designed by Huster). A special edition of 10 Artist Proofs were made, and are available for $250 each from American Israel Numismatic Association (AINA) by paypal.
All of the AMY entries will be illustrated in the AMSA newsletter. Medal collectors and medallists are invited to join the American Medallic Sculpture Association by sending $40 (US & Canada) or $50 (Foreign) to AMSA, P.O. Box 1201, Edmonds, WA 98020.
For more information on the award and the association go the website of the American Medallic Sculpture Association.
The Shekel Prize was awarded for the first time last year. The medal designed by Victor Huster went to Yoav Farhi. You can read an article in our archive.