Meet the 37 Artists Who Could Design America’s Next Coins
Every new U.S. coin starts long before metal meets a press. First comes an idea. Then an artist must turn that idea into an image that can survive on a canvas measured in inches.
Now, the United States Mint has named 37 American artists who will help create that next generation of coin and medal designs.
On August 31, 2026, the Mint announced its latest roster for the Artistic Infusion Program (AIP). The group includes veteran designers whose work already appears on American coins and medals. It also includes four artists who will join the program for the first time.
Those four newcomers are Kristine Campbell, Donovan Corcoran, Gian Galang, and James Martin.
The Mint chose the new artists based on the artistic merit of applications submitted during its nationwide 2026 Call for Artists. The Mint opened that competition on January 8 and set a February 9 application deadline.
For collectors, the announcement matters. An AIP artist working today could create an image that millions of Americans eventually carry in their pockets. Another design could appear on a commemorative coin, Congressional Gold Medal, bullion issue, or major collector release.
Meet the 37 Artists in the 2026 AIP
The Mint selected the following artists for the current Artistic Infusion Program roster. The four first-time AIP participants appear in bold.
Esao Andrews
Peter Beck
Tasha Beckwith
Kristine Campbell
Sean Cheetham
Robert J. Clarke
Francis Cook
Donovan Corcoran
Chris Costello
Emily Damstra
Lucas Durham
Donald Everhart
Barbara Fox
Jamie Franki
Dennis Friel
Kimberly Fulton Orozco
Gian Galang
Elana Hagler
Jesse Hernandez
Christina Hess
Thomas Hipschen
Kathryn Hudson
Robert Kraiza
James Martin
Matthew Molen
Sean Murray
Laurie Musser
Walter O’Neal
Christopher Polentz
Paul Romano
Ronald Sanders
Andrew Sides
Benjamin Sowards
Gennady Spirin
Matthew Swaim
Sara Tepes
Beth Zaiken
Several names will look familiar to longtime collectors. In fact, the Mint has worked with many of these artists during earlier AIP cycles. Peter Beck and Robert J. Clarke, for example, appeared among the artists selected for the program in 2019.
Why the Artistic Infusion Program Matters
The Mint established the Artistic Infusion Program in 2003. Its purpose goes beyond simply finding illustrators.
Instead, the US Mint uses the program to bring outside artistic voices into American coin and medal design. AIP members come from different backgrounds and artistic disciplines. Therefore, the program can expose the Mint to styles and approaches that extend beyond traditional medallic art.
The Mint wants those artists to rethink how a coin or medal can communicate an idea.
At the same time, AIP designers do not work alone. They collaborate with Mint staff, including Chief Engraver Joseph Menna and the Mint’s Medallic Artists. Together, they develop candidate artwork for selected coin and medal programs throughout the year.
That collaboration matters because a successful drawing still has to work as a coin.
A design must communicate clearly at a small scale. Moreover, artists must consider relief, depth, negative space, metal, and the transition from a two-dimensional drawing to a three-dimensional sculptural model. The Mint specifically emphasizes those challenges when it describes the work of AIP designers.
From an Artist’s Studio to a U.S. Coin
AIP artists work from their own studios under delivery order contracts with the Mint.
They submit candidate designs as finished drawings. Under the current program, the Mint pays an artist $3,000 for each assignment. Then, if the Mint selects a design for use on a coin or medal, the artist receives an additional $5,000 bonus.
However, the reward goes beyond the fee.
When an AIP design reaches production, the Mint records the designer’s name in historical documentation, Certificates of Authenticity, and promotional materials. In most cases, the artist’s initials also appear on the finished coin or medal.
The initials of the Mint Medallic Artist who sculpted the design usually appear alongside them.
As a result, a successful AIP assignment can place an artist’s work, and often the artist’s initials, onto an official piece of United States numismatic history.
Who Can Become a U.S. Mint AIP Designer?
The Mint sets several requirements for applicants.
First, an applicant must hold U.S. citizenship. The artist must also reach at least 18 years of age by the application date.
In addition, the Mint requires professional artistic experience. Candidates must have published, produced, or exhibited work in a design-driven field.
That definition covers a surprisingly broad range of art. It includes illustration, graphic design, animation, concept art, comics, collectibles, poster art, street art, and tattoo art. The Mint also considers other fields where strong design plays a central role.
Therefore, the AIP can draw talent from well beyond the traditional world of coin engraving.
Four New Artists Enter a Program With a Long Numismatic Legacy
The four newcomers now enter a program that has influenced modern American coinage for more than two decades.
Kristine Campbell, Donovan Corcoran, Gian Galang, and James Martin join a roster filled with experienced AIP designers. Several veterans have already produced designs that collectors know from circulating coins, commemoratives, Congressional Gold Medals, and other Mint programs.
Meanwhile, the newcomers now face the same unusual challenge.
They must tell stories in metal.
A painting can fill a wall. An illustration can fill a page. A U.S. coin may give an artist little more than an inch of working space.
Yet that tiny surface can travel through millions of hands. It can commemorate an event, preserve a portrait, express a national ideal, or become a collectible that survives for centuries.
That combination of art, history, and mass production makes the Artistic Infusion Program unusual in the American art world.
And somewhere among these 37 artists may already be the designer of a future U.S. coin that collectors have not yet seen.
