There is no dearth of creative people in this world who keep on working to take their art to newer levels. Seattle-based sculptor Heidi Wastweet is one among those. Wastweet has spent a large part of her life designing US coins and the talented artist now wants to turn her coin making talent into a specific art form. Wastweet needs permission from government for getting clearance to develop new design. The new design is reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts review. After reviewing the new design, the committee formally recommends the new design to the treasury secretary, who takes the final decision.
Coin Art
The 3-D plaster coin relief is then digitally scanned and sent to the tooling department, which develops the tools used to manufacture the coin with the new design. The 42-year-old Wastweet works from her studio at Seattle's former Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. Step inside her studio and you will find large plaster casts of coins with the faces of American heroes etched on them. On one side you will spot some of the most prized commissions of Wastweet including a currency coin for Darfur, the Dean's Award for the University of Washington law school, a replica of the peace dollar released in 1964.
The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee recognized Wastweet’s talent in March, 2010, by appointing her to a panel that reviews the work done by the U.S. Mint. The unpaid 11-member panel also advises the Treasury about the designs of the coins. For ordinary people, the images on coins are mere images of historic personalities, but for Wastweet they are much more than that. She says that the images influence the way the Americans and the global community view the US as a nation.
Wastweet minces no word in saying that the US is still stuck in classical designs, but the time has come to view the coins circulating in the country as a work of art and come up with new designs for coins.
Via: Seattle Times
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