Hayden Lake artist leaves lasting imprint on change

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By Kara Houser, Staff Writer
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June 7, 2010 — Do you ever get change at the store and wonder who designs the art on each coin? If you happen to come across the North Dakota or American Samoa quarters, those designs are all thanks to Steve Clark, a local artist from the Hayden Lake Third Ward, Hayden Lake Idaho Stake.

Steve Clark with a large plaster replica of the art he created for the South Dakota quarter along with an assortment of art he has produced for various purposes over the years. Contributed Photo.

Clark has been employed at Sunshine Mint (previously associated with the Sunshine Mine) for 7-and-a-half years where he has designed coinage and now manages new product development. In the early part of 2004, he heard about the U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program, which began with the state quarter designs and continues today with new projects such as the National Parks quarters and the First Spouse gold coins.

"I have to give credit to my wife for getting me involved," said Clark. "I thought it sounded kind of neat, but I didn't feel like I had the time to jump through a bunch of hoops - but she encouraged me to just do it."

The process began with submitting slides of his work. Then he was asked to do a mock design based off a "narrative", or short description, of a particular state. He was accepted into the program along with about 25 other artists. They participated in workshops once a year in Philadelphia, visited Washington D.C., and each artist did an internship with one of the U.S. Mint designers.

"The competition was fierce," Clark said. "I played to my strengths and worked on designs I enjoyed."

Clark mainly focused on wildlife artwork, his lifelong passion. Not only does he love being around it, he also appreciates the challenge it offers.

A closer image of the large plaster replica showing the design Steve Clark created for the South Dakota quarter. Contributed Photo.

"Art has to communicate at an emotional level," he said. "My paintings aren't usually photo-realistic, but I try to incorporate the expressiveness of wildlife into the realism as much as possible. And there are so many people out there, not just artists, but also outdoorsmen, photographers, that know exactly what a deer or elk really looks like."

Art was always a big part of Clark's life as he loved drawing at a young age. He recognizes the inherent talent the Lord gave him from the beginning but also stresses that the more you work on a talent, the more you grow. Clark worked to develop his skill by studying at Ricks College and then at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. One of his great honors is to have been taught and mentored by Leon Parson, a well-known LDS and wildlife artist who painted murals for the Rexburg and Twin Falls temples.

"One thing I learned is that your art can influence for good or evil, so use your art for good," he said.

Clark was definitely interested in a design for the North Dakota quarter because of the wildlife involved, specifically buffalo. Another thing that attracted him to this specific state design was that it allowed some creativity on his part. Originally, the infusion program asked states to submit designs themselves, but this brought up problems such as copyright issues, politics, etc. That's when they changed the policy to have each state write a narrative description and then have a pool of artists submit designs based on the narrative. Some states were very specific about the details of their quarter. For instance, Idaho had very particular instructions about their design, and the one Clark submitted for the state ended up very similar to the one that was actually chosen. He was also a close runner-up to the Alaska design.

North Dakota's narrative, however, was more general and open to interpretation. Two of Clark's designs for the state were in the top three and he's grateful that one of his best submissions is now out there for all the world to see.

"I submitted a few designs that didn't turn out the best, mostly because of really tight time frames or very little reference," Clark laughs. "Thank goodness those weren't chosen! And there were others I thought were really good that weren't chosen. It's decision by committee and that's how it goes."

The American Samoa quarter was a little harder for Clark to design because there were specific ceremonial items to work in. He mostly focused on incorporating scenery into the image and making the arrangement of items aesthetically pleasing.

Images of the finished coins designed by Clark. Contributed Photo.

"I'm glad I wasn't just a one-hit wonder," he said.

Over the course of the five years he was in the program, Clark estimates he submitted 40-50 designs. He sometimes was frustrated by the limits of the media, such as not being able to work with shading or color, but also recognizes that illustration work often requires the artist to meet certain criteria. It challenged him in many ways and he had to really work to find his own style.

"It was all a positive experience for me," he said.

Some of the most important things he tried to keep in mind while working in this medium was to pay close attention to texture contrasts and varying degrees of relief, such as a 3-D look vs. flat plane.

When asked how he feels when he gets a handful of change and sees one of his quarters, Clark said, "I always take a glance."

Ironically, Clark is not much of a coin collector.

"I used to keep them, but now I just spend them and send them back into circulation," he said.

Clark keeps quiet about his work most of the time, because he knows most people wouldn't believe him. There is nothing on the quarter itself that identifies Clark as the designer. Originally, they considered putting the artist's initials on the quarter which, Clark admits, would have been nice, but the idea was scratched, due to more politics.

Does that phase Clark? Not in the slightest.

"I've done something not everyone has done," he said. "It's a part of American History. For me, it's a great honor to have been a part of something I am proud of, something that will endure."

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