American Medal of the Year Award
“Save Our Planet from Covid-19” Medal by Keiko Kubota-Miura Wins the 2022 American Medal of the Year (AMY) Award
The American Medallic Sculptors Association (AMSA) has announced that Keiko Kubota-Miura has won the 2022 American Medal of the Year (AMY) award for her innovative work titled “Save Our Planet from Covid-19.”
Keiko describes her work as “a self-portrait medal when NY was in the Covid-19 epidemic, and I am the plant growing strong with others in the midst of it. Our lives must also change to protect this planet of ours. And live in symbiosis with all things, solid and alive, not defeated by Covid-19 ― Save Our Planet.”
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“Save Our Planet” is 6” x 6” x 3”; Keiko delineates its production as follows: “The medal is made from a sheet of copper, made into a round shape with a hammer and chisel. The plants inside and the club-shaped spikes of Covid-19 are made from copper rods. The shapes are assembled by soldering and electric welding. The natural oxidized color of the copper is created during the production process, after which each piece is patinated in hues of dark brown and greenish-blue, and finally 24K gold leaf is applied.
While similar medals by Keiko sell for thousands of dollars, she has agreed to make up to 10 duplicates of “Save Our Planet". Note that since each medal must be hand assembled, each medal will be slightly different and unique.
The two other finalists are civil rights leader “John Lewis” by Jim Licaretz, 3 ½ inches cast in bonded bronze
and “Pandemic Selfie,” 4 x 2 inches cast in hydro-stone and hand-painted, by Eva Wohn.
American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA)
The American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA) invites nominations for its annual American Medal of the Year (AMY) Award from medalists, mints, judges, AMSA members, FIDEM members or anyone else by March 1 for medals created by any American medalist or any AMSA medalist in the previous calendar year. There is a limit of 3 entries per medalist per year, and once someone wins, they will not be eligible for the next 2 years.
Nomination should include name, address, email and phone number of medalist, title, metallic content and diameter of each medal, and 300dpi color pictures of both sides, or one side if uniface, of up to three medals. Nominations should be submitted by March 1 to AMY coordinator Mel Wacks (e-mail: numismel@aol.com).
The pleiade of distinguished jurors are: Philip Attwood, Curator of Medals, Department of Coins and Medals, British Museum and editor of The Medal; Dr. Ellen Feingold, Curator, National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution; Cory Gillilland, Member of the Consultative Committee of Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d'Art and formerly Curator and Deputy Director of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution; Barbara Gregory, editor of The Numismatist; Steve Roach, editor of Coin World, and formerly paintings specialist at Christie's; Dr. Alan Stahl, Curator of Numismatics, Princeton University, and one of the founders of AMSA; and Dr. Ben Weiss, medal collector and author, member of the board of directors of Medal Collectors of America.
For AMSA membership information
Past winners of the AMY Award
2014 Michael Meszaros (Australia)
2015 Richard Bonham (USA)
2016 Susan Taylor (Canada)
2017 Heidi Wastweet (USA)
2019 Michael Meszaros (Australia)
2021 Jeanne Stevens-Sollman (USA)
2022 Keiko Kubota-Miura (USA)