Some artists struggle to figure out ways to make money from their art. Not Christina Hess, a Philadelphia-based artist and chair of the illustration department at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. Hess literally used her art to make money.

The year 2020 marked the centennial anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment — the law that granted women the right to vote. The United States Mint celebrated the anniversary with the release of a silver dollar commemorative coin. Hess’ illustrations are featured on the coin.

Hess, who grew up in Lititz and is a graduate of Warwick High School, says she’s voted in every presidential election since she reached legal voting age. But, she says learned a lot about the suffragette movement while creating the illustrations for the coin.

“It really hit home because it was one of those things that you take it for granted,” says Hess during a phone interview that took place one day after the presidential inauguration, when Kamala Harris became the first woman was sworn in as vice president.

The heads side of Hess’ coin features three women from three different eras. The reverse shows the year 2020 sliding into a ballot box decorated in an art deco style. The coin itself, as well as framed printed designs, are on display now as part of the PCA&D biannual faculty art exhibit, which runs through May. Due to COVID-19, the PCA&D gallery is still not open to the public, but works from the exhibit can be found online at pcad.edu.

women's suffrage coin reverse

“Artists are storytellers; they hold up a mirror to society and shape our understanding through their visual work,” PCA&D President Michael Molla said in an emailed statement. “Some of our most important traditions, cultural connections, remembrances, and aspirations come from a visual connection. The powerful and enduring symbols engraved and stamped on coins and money can be truly everlasting, serving as moments of honor and pride while bringing us together as one undivided community.”


Getting minted

Hess connected with the U.S. Mint through its Artist Infusion Program, which contracts artists to create and work on designs for coins and medals.

Hess responded to the Mint’s call for submissions for the program after it was posted on LinkedIn in 2019. More than 350 artists applied, and Hess was one of 27 artists selected for the program. The artists submit illustration concepts for quarters, silver dollars and Medals of Honor.

The women’s suffrage commemorative silver dollar coin is considered a collector’s item, but former President Donald Trump also approved it as legal tender. The coin, which is valued at $1 as legal tender and retails at $69-$75 as a collector’s item, is currently sold out.

For the commemorative coin, Hess and nine other artists from the Artist Infusion Program were asked to submit illustrations for the heads and tails sides of the coin. The illustrations go through rounds of edits by a panel of design mangers, engineers, engravers and sculptors. Then the final decision is up to committee members from the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizen Coinage Advisory Committee. The secretary of the treasury makes the final decision of which coins are minted.

And it’s not always the same artist’s work that ends up on both sides of the coin.

“The fact that I got the front and the back, I was just stunned,” Hess says. “I’m honored.”

The heads side of Hess’ coin features three women from three different eras, and the reverse shows the year 2020 sliding into a ballot box decorated in an art deco style.

Hess has worked on several designs, but this is the first coin she’s worked on that was minted. After the illustrations are approved, they go to the sculptors, who make a physical model of the design, followed by a digital 3D model.

“The sculptors do an absolutely amazing job with that process,” Hess says. “They just work magic.”

The women’s suffrage commemorative silver dollar is larger than most coins — at about an inch and a half. That extra real estate gave Hess a more room for detail in her design.


Faces from history

Hess did some historical research to create the illustration on the heads side side of the commemorative coin, which features three women, from three different eras and who represents different ages and races.

“When I started looking at the women’s suffrage movement, I was looking at the years. I had no idea how many decades it spanned,” Hess says. “One of the things I wanted to incorporate was, not only age and ethnicity, but I also wanted to incorporate the different periods of time.”

Hess’ solution was to look at the fashions from the mid-1800s to the earlier 1900s, specifically the hat, like boaters (popular in the late 19th century) and cloches (often seen in early 20th-century fashions).

“The way I thought about doing that was the actual hats that they’re wearing,” Hess says. “I did a lot of research on women’s marches and what exactly they were wearing, and what they were carrying and what the buttons looked like.”

The models for Hess’ women all came from antique public domain photos she found online. One of the images came from an unlikely place.

“The lady in the upper right was actually from a mug shot,” Hess says. “I don't know what her crime was, but she had such a great face. I was like, this is it! This is a face from history from that time period, and she’s got such great features that I thought would be prominent on a coin.”

Hess says she also watched films like “Iron Jawed Angels” and “Suffragette” for inspiration and ideas. She says she created about 30 thumbnail sketches per coin side to help her work out her ideas before settling on the final illustrations.

Hess admits she wasn't very interested in history as a student, but says she gained a new appreciation for the subject while researching the women’s suffrage movement.

“The grandiosity of the whole situation was not lost on me,” Hess says. “It made me look at the women who were really fighting for this — being jeered at and getting things thrown at them during marches — it made me feel differently about the historical context.”

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