|
The National Endowment for the Arts has selected Joel Iskowitz to be awarded the designation
of Master Designer to join the United States Mint's Artistic Infusion Program which creates our nations' coins and medals.
Joel Iskowitz is one of few living artists to have had his artwork displayed in the Pentagon,
the Capitol and the White House. He has created artwork for three decades that has graced the covers of books, periodicals,
journals, public spaces, coins and postage stamps worldwide. Since his designation as Master Designer for the United States
Mint in 2005,he has had 27 of his designs for coins and medals selected for minting.He is also an active United States Air
Force (USAF) artist and has a number of oils in the USAF permanent collection. Mr. Iskowitz has been invited twice to document
Space Shuttle missions and his artwork is on permanent display at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Museum. He is the designer
of both obverse and reverse of the New Frontier Congressional Gold Medal which was presented to the Apollo11 astronauts Neil
Armstrong,Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and Mercury astronaut John Glenn, by the leadership of the Congress on November,16,2011
in the Rotunda of the Capitol.He is also the designer of two other Congressional Gold Medals honoring the Women Air Force
Service Pilots and the Nisei Soldiers of WWII,all in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum.Mr.Iskowitz's work
has been featured in many international journals; including profiles of his numismatic and philatelic art in CoinAGE Magazine;
Watercolor Magazine American Artist Magazine, Smithsonian Profiles; and his murals have been featured in Exhibit Builder Magazine.
He has been awarded both bronze and silver medals for his corporate illustrations and grand-scale public art in Portfolios.com
international competitions . His design for the American Numismatic Association’s Presidential Award won the 2008 silver
medal in corporate illustration in the International Creative Shake competition. His design for the District of Columbia quarter
dollar reverse was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and his design for
the reverse of the “Illinois” 2009 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Cent was displayed in the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Museum and the New York Historical Society Museum. His reverse design for the 2011 Medal of Honor Commemorative
Gold Coin is on permanent display in the U.S. Capitol's Emancipation Hall.Proceeds from his Army Commemorative Gold Coin has
helped in the building of the U.S.Army Museum at Ft.Belvoir,VA.His design for the Infantry Silver Dollar Commemorative Coin
has helped fund the construction of the U.S. Infantry Museum, at Ft .Benning GA.His painting documenting the events of the
D-day invasion is represented with artists proof lithos in the permanent collection of the Historical Society of Caranten,Brévands
and the Mairie of Merville,France.His artwork has been included in the Society of Illustrators Annual Show, "Illustration
53" and the same work,"Inspiration of the Lincoln Cent",won international recognition in the Applied Arts Illustration
Annual Awards and also was a winner in Artslant's "Winner's Circle" Showcase.A recently completed mural which chronicles
the history of aviation technology has been installed at the Pentagon at the entry to the Department of the Air Force.A full
scale gicleé of this work is on display at Wright –Patterson AFB.His most recent large scale painting will be
installed in Airman's Hall, the Pentagon and won international recognition in Artslant's Showcase 2011. His designs for the
Medal of Honor gold coin recieved honorable mention in the 2011 International Design Awards.His New Frontier design won the
Bronze Medal in IDA's 2012 global competition. Mr. Iskowitz has also received theNational Oceanic and Philatelic Society citation
for his contributions to Space Philately.His obverse design for the Louis Braille Silver Dollar flew aboard the Space Shuttle
Atlantis on it's mission to service the Hubble Telescope.He continues to present his artwork in illustrated lectures at universities
and professional organizations,including the Fashion Institute of Technology,Syracuse University ,Marywood College,The Society
of Illustrators, Fordham University,Hunter College,Montclair State University, the American Numismatic Association, and the
New York Numismatic Club. In May of 2011, he was inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame.
|
