Phebe Hemphill (born April 25, 1960) is an American sculptor who works for the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

. She has been called "one of the preeminent coin artists, sculptors, and engravers of our time."

Early life and education

Hemphill was born April 25, 1960 in West Chester, Pennsylvania to Dallett Hemphill and Ann Cornwell Hemphill. A number of Phebe Hemphill's family members, including her father and grandfather, were interested in coin and medal collecting. She was directly inspired by her grandfather, Gibbons Gray Cornwell Jr., who did

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

, who in turn was influenced by her great-great aunt, Martha Jackson Cornwell, who worked with

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trav ...

. Hemphill attended

Agnes Irwin School The Agnes Irwin School is a non-sectarian college preparatory day school for girls from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. It was founded in 1869 by Agnes Irwin in Philadelphia. Irwin, a great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, later beca ...

for girls in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, graduating in 1978. Hemphill trained at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

, graduating in 1987. She also studied with Evangelos Frudakis. Hemphill includes

Jules-Clément Chaplain Jules-Clément Chaplain (12 July 1839 – 13 July 1909) was a French sculptor and one of its finest medallists. With Louis Oscar Roty (1846–1911) he helped found the Art Nouveau movement. Chaplain was born in Mortagne-au-Perche, Orne, and ...

, Jean-Baptiste Daniel-Dupuis, Oscar Roty,

, and Adolph A. Weinman among her artistic influences.

Sculpture

In 1987, Hemphill joined the

Franklin Mint The Franklin Mint is a private mint founded by Joseph Segel in 1964 in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The building is in Middletown Township. The brand name was previously owned by Sequential Brands Group headquartered in New York City, New York. It is ...

in the sculpture department. She remained there until 2002, working on

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

and medallic art. From 2002 until 2005 she worked as a staff sculptor at McFarlane Toys, in

Bloomingdale, New Jersey Bloomingdale is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,777, an increase of 121 (+0.6%) from the 2010 census count of 7,656, In 2006, she joined the

in Philadelphia. She has sculpted many coins and medals for the U.S. Mint, including the 2013 Presidential $1 Coin obverse for

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

; the 2011

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...

National Medal World Trade center obverse; the Monuments men bronze medal; and coin series of Five-Star Generals, First Spouses and Code talkers. United States Mint state quarters including Gettysburg, the Grand Canyon, Mount Hood, and Yosemite are also Hemphill's work. Hemphill lives in Philadelphia. She frequently visits sites which will be featured in her work, including

Shenandoah National Park Shenandoah National Park (often ) is an American national park that encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The park is long and narrow, with the Shenandoah River and its broad valley to the west, and the ...

and the September 11 attack locations. She uses both digital and traditional methods in her work, working with 3-D imaging software as well as creating coin designs on clay blanks the size of dinner plates.

Exhibitions

Hemphill's work has been shown by the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

, the American Medallic Sculpture Association, the F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia, and

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

Awards

* 2014, Winner of Congressional Medal Design Contest for the September 11 attacks * 2000, Alex J. Ettel Grant, National Sculpture Society * 2001, Renaissance Sculpture Award, the Franklin Mint

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemphill, Phebe 1960 births American women sculptors Artists from Philadelphia People from West Chester, Pennsylvania 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors Living people Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists Sculptors from Pennsylvania Agnes Irwin School alumni