Jeanne Stevens-Sollman

Jeanne Stevens-Sollman has maintained her sculpture studio with her artist husband, Philip Sollman, in rural central Pennsylvania since 1976. Stevens-Sollman studied medallic art under John Cook at Pennsylvania State University and her medal Wood Breeds of 1987 was included in the ground-breaking exhibition organised by Cook and shown in the USA and UK (for which see The Medal, 15 (1989), pp. 94-6). She is the recipient of the J. Sanford Saltus Award from the American Numismatic Society, the Award for Excellence in Medallic Art from the American Numismatic Association, the American Medal of the Year from the American Medallic Sculpture Society, the Cuhaj Award of Distinction in Medallic Art, and, at the 1998 FIDEM congress in The Hague, the FIDEM Award for Best Text and Imagery. In addition to creating numerous awards and medals, she has also completed fifteen sculptures for the arboretum at Pennsylvania State University.

            Issued by BAMS, Stevens-Sollman’s medal, Hunting in the Dreamtime, was illustrated in the Spring / Summer 2024 issue of Behind the MASC, the newsletter of the Medallic Art Society of Canada. The artist writes: ‘In July 2023, the full moon, also known as the buck moon, was hanging in a nearly cloudless sky except for the clouds moving slowing across its face. The cloud formation was that of a stag being chased by a bear. These clouds never dissipated as they floated down the valley. Watching in disbelief, trying to reassure myself of what I was seeing, I kept this image close to me until finally it made its way into a medal last winter. The reverse is an image of a projectile point found near our home as we were walking the fields in the Spring. We live in an area once inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans. This medal, Hunting in the Dreamtime, commemorates this history.’