WASHINGTON — The United States Mint today announced that three new artists have been selected to participate in the Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) as associate designers. They are William C. Burgard of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Bill Gibbons of Bronx, N.Y.; and Ron Sanders of North Port, Fla.
The United States Mint issued a call for artists in August 2009, seeking up to ten associate designers to supplement the current pool of artists under contract in the AIP. The bureau accepted applications on a rolling basis with three deadlines. Nearly 250 professional visual artists nationwide submitted applications. Four new AIP artists were selected after the November 2009 deadline and three after the March 2010 deadline. Burgard, Gibbons and Sanders were selected after the July 2010 deadline.
After all three application deadlines, official panels were convened at United States Mint Headquarters to review the qualifying applications. The panels were composed of representatives from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian and National Gallery of Art, the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
The Artistic Infusion Program, established in 2003, is specifically designed to develop and train a pool of talented external artists ready to work with the United States Mint’s in–house staff of sculptor–engravers to create new coin and medal designs. United States Mint Sculptor–Engravers model the designs submitted by the AIP artists.
There are two levels of artists who may participate in the AIP–master designers and associate designers. Associate designers are eligible for direct promotion to the master designer level after two years in the program. Under AIP provisions, master designers receive $2,500 for each design submitted for consideration and associate designers $2,000. Each artist receives an additional $5,000 per design if that design is selected for a coin or medal. All AIP artists are invited to create and submit at least one candidate design annually for a coin or medal program.
In the past, AIP artists have submitted successful designs for several United States Mint programs, including the 50 State Quarters Program, American Eagle Platinum Coin Program, Presidential $1 Coin Program, First Spouse Gold Coin and Medal Program, and America the Beautiful Quarters® Program.