The Jamie Franki Art Collection proudly represents the initial acquisitions made for the establishment of the Student Union permanent art collection. We invite you to explore the following featured works online and on display in the Bistro Corridor on the second floor.
- U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program
- LIBERTY: Symbolic Images of Freedom
- The Team USA Olympic Order of Ikkos Medal
- About Jamie Franki
U.S. MINT ARTISTIC INFUSION PROGRAM
In 2003, the United States Mint with the National Endowment for the Arts selected 24 artists from a national competition to participate in the Artistic Infusion Program. The program offered artists the opportunity to submit original designs for our nations circulating coinage, commemorative coins and medals.
In the summer of 2004, the Secretary of the Treasury selected one of Jamie Frankis designs to be minted a simple depiction of an American Bison. It was used as the reverse for one of the four new nickels in the Westward Journey series commemorating the Lewis and Clark bicentennial anniversary.
The American Bison nickel was released into circulation in March of 2005. Approximately 936,000,000 Bison nickels thundered into cash registers, collections and circulation. The nickel was awarded the Worlds Most Popular Circulating Coin in 2005 by the international COTY (Coin of the Year) jury.
In the summer of 2005, another of Frankis designs was to be selected for minting. This design depicted a rendering of Thomas Jefferson inspired by the first life portrait by Rembrandt Peale. It was chosen for the obverse of the first American circulating coin featuring a forward-facing President. The Jefferson 1800 nickel was released into circulation in 2006 as Americas ongoing five-cent denomination. Billions of the forward-facing Jefferson nickels have since been struck.
AMERICAN BISON NICKEL, 2005 (Above, left)
One of four limited edition nickels released in the Westward Journey series commemorating the Lewis and Clark bicentennial anniversary.
JEFFERSON 1800 NICKEL, 2006 (Above, right)
First American circulating coin with a forward-facing President. Design inspired by Jeffersons first life portrait by Rembrant Peale.
LIBERTY: SYMBOLIC IMAGES OF FREEDOM
The experience working with the U.S. Mint struck a chord in Frankis personal artistic pursuits. The word liberty inscribed on United States coinage inspired Franki to produce a series of original artwork. LIBERTY, a collection of symbolic images of freedom, invites viewers to contemplate the meaning of liberty and its ongoing legacy in contemporary society.
"LIBERTY was inspired by my work created for the United States Federal Government in the Artistic Infusion Program. On all coins minted in this country, the word LIBERTY is inscribed. What is LIBERTY? How are we free, and how are we not? Is LIBERTY a myth or a reality, a lie or a truth? I think it is a bit of both, and for a time I decided to put my mind and efforts as an artist to the task of contemplating freedom in America." --Jamie Franki
LIBERTY is comprised of twelve total artworks divided into six pairs.
President Jefferson's Fatal Flaw, 2005
Isaac Jefferson & Mulberry Row
Paradise Lost, 2005
Native American Liberty is now available on DVD & Carlisle Indian School
The Team USA Olympic Order of Ikkos Medal
Franki has the distinction of being the selected artist who designed the Order of Ikkos Medal for Team USA.
The Order of Ikkos medal began its perpetual run as Team USAs coaching honor society award at the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games held in Beijing, China. The medal is presented to the personal coaches of U.S. Olympic and Paralympic medalists, representing the athletes appreciation for the integral services the coach has provided.
The medal gets its name from Ikkos of Tarentum, the first recorded Olympic coach in ancient Greece. Ikkos won the pentathlon at the 84th Olympiad in 444 B.C.E. and later became known for his coaching ability as he led two fellow Tarentine athletes to gold in the same event.
Ive designed medals for a variety of clients, but the project that meant the most to me as an artist and as an American was the Order of Ikkos Medal design I created for the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The design of the Order of Ikkos Medal is both classical and contemporary, a reflection upon past Olympic heritage and determined efforts toward the future. The elements of the design were chosen and placed to create an interlocked balance as well as a circular eye movement a tribute to the joined circles in the famed Olympic Rings.
To create a symbolic relevance that is universally applicable to all Olympic sports, Franki used the Torch as a symbol for the guidance a coach offers the athlete.
The design commemorates the passing of thanks and recognition from athlete to coach. Iconic symbols such as a flame modeled after the Statue of Libertys torch, 50 stars for each of the 50 American states, and the U.S.
Olympic Team logo give the medallion a distinctly American flare.
About Jamie Franki
In addition to his twenty-five years teaching art at the college and university level, Jamie Franki actively maintains an artistic practice in exhibition, public and private commission, visual communication design and numismatic design. Greatly influenced by the artists of the Golden Age of American illustration, Franki strives to create narrative artwork that is rich in detail and accessible to a wide range of people.
Frankis artwork has been exhibited in numerous venues, including the Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration, NYC; The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA; the San Francisco Art Directors Club, CA; and the Cooperstown Baseball Hall of Fame, NY. He has created coins and medals for a variety of national organizations and competitions.
Franki is a tenured Associate Professor at UNC Charlotte where he coordinates the Illustration program in the Department of Art and Art History and serves as Associate Chair for the department. He received his MFA Degree in Illustration from Syracuse University.
Edgar Allan P0e Commemorative Meda, 2008 (Below, left)
American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money
Battle of Fort Dearborn Commemorative Meda, 2011 (Below, right)
American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money
