Owitz talked about how they were designed and awarded. Welcome toernoon, our friends from the cspan audience. What that means for our audience, during the questionandanswer period, please wait for your question until the microphone gets the read so everyone can hear. David callan, im president of the museum of american finance. I am joined by the chair, john herzog. 220 is a bond from about years ago, signed by none other than the father of our country, George Washington. This is George Washingtons bond. About 60 years ago, this document is a share certificate in rko owned by howard hughes, signed right. Here. What thosent today, two men have in common and the answer. Is that both received the congressional gold manner. Edal. Today we will hear from joel iskowitz, who has designed them. Including one design for the apollo 11 mission, the original moon landing mission. Joel has a voluminous volume of work. You have seen it coins, journals, stamps. He has designed over 2000 stamps for 40 different countries. His artwork hangs in the pentagon, the capital, the white house. But my favorite is that it has actually been on a ride on a spatial. It is my pleasure to introduce joel iskowitz. [applause] joel thank you so much. Good afternoon everybody. I went to thank everyone for coming. That very,david, for very wonderful introduction. I want to thank a couple of individuals just before i begin. The founder of this beautiful institution and chairman emeritus. I also want to thank my very who friend constantine, creates wonderful ideas, this being one of them hopefully. Then i speak to you about designing congressional gold medals from my perspective. Christian, to thank who is held my hand through the process, making sure everything works well. That the slide presentation goes well. And i also certainly want to thank, last in this case but not least by any means, jimmy. Event ay made this possibility from my standpoint, she invested a lot of time and energy in interviewing me for trying to find out the story behind the congressional gold medals from my Vantage Point, my point of view. That is really what i will be doing here. Realized that i would be speaking at this very prestigious institution, when christine mentioned it will be covered by cspan, i am eagerly got into an incredible panic. There is a tremendous sense of privilege one has when one is tasked with Something Like designing a congressional gold medal. A congressional gold medal is our nations form of highest esteem for distinguished individuals, and also institutions. And it goes back to the founding of our nation. And so, it is a very daunting process to take on such a role, it is a lot of hard work. But it is also incredibly gratifying. Especially when one gets a chance, as i have in my lovely wife suzanne had yesterday, to witness the recipients of the congressional gold medal in a ceremony which occurred yesterday for the Monuments Men. So my head and my heart, too, is spinning with the events of yesterday. Because that particular congressional gold medal combines so many stories, stories of world war ii. Horror and the terror that hitler and his minions had visited upon europe, and literally the world. It also involves heroic efforts that were up until very recently, untold and unsung of Museum Curators and architects and restorers and artists and sculptors and archivists. Who took it upon themselves, they were in very comfortable lifestyles and had no need to be impressed into service, but in order to save the great Cultural Treasures of the world, they put and saved great treasures for posterity. I apologize. Going to beinally the final piece. But we have just returned from this very moving ceremony. As i say, it is filling my mind and heart right now. Or slide is, presentation, is in a sense very formal. But in reality, when i took a look at the seven or so congressional gold medals that i intend to speak to you about this afternoon, i realize that each and every story was so such elaborate content and connection to so much history, that it would be literally impossible within the small amount of time we have this afternoon, allowing for some questions and answers at the end, to get into too much detail about each and every one. So, with that, my disclaimer is that i will show you the images i haveefully, if done my job properly, those images will speak for themselves to some extent. And i will have a very informal running commentary with each and recounting some of the things that i remember that might be important and hopefully informative. It is interesting. David callans introduction mentions general George Washington. He was the first recipient of the medal. Sometimes, legislation, as we know, takes a great deal of time. We have to be very patient before anything becomes a law. And in the case of these congressional gold medals, in our modern era, sometimes legislation takes eight or 10 years or more to get passed by both bodies of congress and signed by the president rea then there it. Process ofis the creating the medal, in the purview of the mint, creating the treasury. I stand with you at the corner of wall street and Alexander Hamiltons bank. Not many footsteps from Trinity Church, where alexander hamilton, our first secretary of treasury, is interred. None of this is lost on me as i go about taking these assignments. Thisis also not lost is tradition, this lineage, this connectivity. Exercise and looking at these special gold medals with you, an artists perspective. That is an amorphous and relative term. It is respective to the change of each individuals Vantage Point re but one o. But one of the things i take amy much to heart when i invited to submit a candidate for Something Like a congressional gold medal, or for any coin that theres an image emblematic of the United States of america, it is pretty daunting stuff. The early days, really, of our nation. That marthary goes and George Washington actually gave up their silverware. Things were pretty sketchy back in the revolution. And there are stories, some are corroborated and some are not, they gave their own silverware to help create the bullion for our nations pointed. And there are scholars who know much better than i that the buillonthat is set in carriesedal humankinds highest ideals. It carries images of exploits that are quite extraordinary by very distinguished, powerful, creative individuals trade it is all really very inspiring . Together see i put some great founders, great visionaries. They put together this american experiment. And ive always been a great fan and a great admirer of course of abraham lincoln. Us, he hase most of a Close Association because he really comes right out of the fabric of our society. Young fellow growing up in school, George Washington always seemed so patrician. He changed so much of great britain, both in comportment and clothing and manner. But as i learned more and more about washington, i was deeply, whaty impressed by character and vision he showed. What restraint. N incrediblyt a powerful president for precedent fo what we call the the United States of america. We are really truly unique. Last week are we losing the microphone . Should i, should i put something . I will wait a second. Not only, did i by the way, incidentally, completely off my notes i made voluminous notes. I doubt i will remember what i was saying. Someone will have to remind me. Should i wait a little bit . Or are you able to pick me up on this . Ok, i was talking about George Washington. And i was talking about the fact cedent,e precedent he said, as i was contemplating, we are the only nation returned and repatriated what would ordinarily be spoils of war the great art and treasure of europe. We repatriated that not only to the rightful owners, we actually even included germany. So, anyways, there is a great deal of history and lineage that is not lost on me. Approved coinage that in that day. The revolutionary era, it is that mustt is be ratified by both bodies of congress. Once it is, it is up to the executive branch and the president of the United States signs it into being, into the law of the land. Just as George Washington did back in those days. One thing i did want to parenthetically insert about washington in terms of visionary, one of visionary he was, was that he insisted to others that his image not be used on the new coinage for our nation. And that is a very wise and powerful concept. Because he insisted that if you put mine effigy on our coinage, you will make me a sovereign. And in this new land, this new experiment, it is the people who are sovereign. That still functions today. Wild andetime getting woolly, and in an election cycle like we have, it is not always pretty. But the precepts the founders laid down are alive and well. N can tell you as an brea american citizen, that the system of meritocracy is still alive. And without any special connections or insider advantages, i know personally oft my art worked because hitting the mark at certain points, he gets to be part of our nations history and heritage itself. Daunting for, very me. I will not bother with some of the verbiage. But basically, i was trying to talk about the process, which i think i alluded to. It goes ony today. Hamilton, the secretary, must sign any coinage into eternal life. Sorry, i will go back. At al go back one more time here for a second. And i just want to also parenthetically mentioned that i have also, besides having the great honor and privilege to work for the United States mint and take on these incredibly thatring assignments, through the air force art program and through the national art program, i have had the occasion and the privilege to travel with the United States air force to many different venues. And i have gotten the privilege of spending time down at nasa. Y ofing witness to a cit experts committed to incredible feats. And witnessed a couple of launches of the space shuttle. Everything is connected, part of my perspective. And i think that informs a certainlyt i do, for the u. S. Mint. The very first congressional gold medal that was ever accepted was for the womens air force service pilots. Very often, by the way, another great thing about our nation is that we may not show womenude to our men and in uniform, or those who have done Great Service and achieved great things for humanity, but after 6070 years, we come around. And we give credit where it is due. These women, these women, they flow marauders, which were nicknamed widowmakers. They were standing in for, so they could be assigned combat duty, they were afraid because it was nicknamed the widowmaker. These women, 25 of the wives of the pilots, work hand selected by jackie cochran. Plaeshey flew these b26 nes and loved every minute. They were incredible. My wife and i got to meet them back in 2009. That is my drawing. In terms of process, it is a pencil drawing. I is not just one pencil, might go through 45 different versions before i get it right. And before a very elaborate process that vets the design, that it is right enough to be part of a design portfolio that makes it through the internal vetting process of the mint. It is quite complex, historical accuracy, manufacturability, poin. Then it goes to Erudite National review boards. In the process is not over until the secretary of the treasury, pardon me i have been watching too many congressional hearings, the secretary of the treasury signs it into being. Then, there is the process that i will not go into, of sculpting the medal. We have, i am part of a group called the artistic infusion program, which began in 2013 by henrietta ford, a visionary woman in her own right. Who wanted to democratize processing and printing the artistcitizen, invigorating the imagery on our coins and medals,. S was altered by woman this was sculpted by a woman in that alsoia, a group submit design candidates, threedimensional candidates, for consideration. Ofall her the donatello philly. This is just another shot of my iphone. When you shoot a threedimensional basrelief, very often, the lighting is very telling of a different story. Shot of what a congressional Gold Medal Ceremony looks like, when it is given to, you know, a group such as the womans air force service pilots. Incidentally, another thing that is not lost on me is that, in this day and age, also very seeying and wonderful, to both sides of Congress Meet a perfect agreement over perfectly welldeserved honor. It just does your heart good as american to see the leadership of congress recognizing these heroes, these people of great distinction, who have done great deeds and paid great sacrifices. And also does not hurt to see ahhing overand my work. [laughter] i cannot help that. The woman in the middle there is jeannie parish. On behalf of the entire community. Done,e medals i have the groups are recipients. They are collectively bestowed. The second congressional gold medal which was for soldiers of world war ii, this is an interesting and also very nuanced tory. Story. The backdrop was the attack of pearl harbor. Fitfdr at the time saw ,der the circumstances to with an executive order and turnarcerate and in inter people of japanese dissent. Escent. Simultaneously gave a second executive order, closer to his believes. That no one should be judged on their citizenship or their american identity by race or color. So against this backdrop of racial injustice, where there are family and friends incarcerated in internment camps, these men served in the mountains and save the lost battalion at great cost, at great cost. And incidentally, they served with more military distinction and recognition than any unit in American Military history. Honoring the 442nd regimental combat team. Battalion andntry the military intelligence service. That is why there are only three stars appearing, indicating and the medically, the three branches. Those are subtleties that go into the thought process. Incidentally, in terms of the thought process, before i ever left a pencil up, if im doing my job correctly, especially narratives, the task orders that come to us come attachment, and the attachment determines what is needed in terms of the design, it is the congressional law that has been passed. And so that is the essence. I want to do my first research, i read congressional findings. Why these people . They enumerate sometimes 28 different items why the soldiers are deserving of congressional gold medals . Literally, our highest civilian award. Theyve been given to many individuals, by the way. This is the closest ive ever gotten to doing a congressional gold medal design for an individual. Most of them are group recipients. And in a sense, these men were group recipients. But it was a combined effort , the honoring john glenn First American to orbit the earth. And neil armstrong, michael collins, buzz aldrin, they represented the apollo 11 mission which landed the first earthling on another planetary body on our lunar surface. I was around. I saw this on black and white tv. I was in San Francisco somewhere. And it was an indelible moment for human history. As a matter of fact, as i was sitting in daves office, he was showing me the certificates of George Washington and howard hughes, being congressional gold medal recipients, what a strange, interesting juxtaposition. He said, you know, this is really cool. I told david in his office, you know, the speaker of the house, john boehner, whose last congressional Gold Medal Ceremony was yesterday, in the rotunda of the capital, in the rotunda of the capital, it is the only congressional gold ceremony i attended in the inner sanctum of our office. And George Washington was going to be interred there, like napoleon. Other circumstances prevailed. In the rotunda of the capital, the speaker of the house came to the podium and said, ok, i will say what everybody in the room and there were quite a number of people in the room, including scott kelly who is now in order station space this is pretty cool. It was really true. It was really true because there is almost no other way to describe, you know, these kinds of exploits, these kinds of feats. They defied imagination. So basically, this is the congressional gold medal. My drawing. Phoebe temples incredible sculpting. And this is the reverse. Incidentally, artistically, it artist. Sed to be an between you and me and anyone else who might be listening in, i love art. I have loved art all my life. When the Monuments Men were honored yesterday, it was incredible to witness that. Crowning, our crowning legacy. It is communication of who we are as human beings. And our creativity, it is a repository of all we are. I believe what Duke Ellington said, there is no labeling. There is no, no formula one size does not fit all. And when i was tearing my hair out, trying to figure out what to do for the reverse, i was playing around with a lot of different elements. But i was really very excited about the fact that since i was working in the round, as you do with coinage, the rectilinear rules of composition are thrown out the window. Just as the experience of orbiting the earth, orbiting the ows one out of our usual ways of reckoning our own identity and our place in it. It is all thrown into complete flux. So i wanted to achieve a sense of vertigo, almost read with this design, i wanted to achieve a sense that there is no orienting point. There is no north and south. It is not a rectilinear, twodimensional, it is threedimensional it is all in motion. Sculpt was of the done by the lead of the mint, don everhart. Here is a little inside baseball. He called me up on the phone. He said im working on the clay for the reverse of the new frontier. Tranquility sea of what you indicated with the lunar surface . I said no, don. Because i had to portray the way, itdule in such a would have been inaccurate to landing site of the eagle the sea of tranquility. It is just a lot of lunar craters that i think look really lunar in texture. I said, have fun with that. Just make it look like the moon, and contrast to the earth. Not many people, i will never repeat that. Ok, so i have to go back to this. Let us usehotograph, that one. Again, in the rotunda of the capital, where John Trumbulls murals, one of which was the resignation of George Washington, general washington, bull called when the greatest moral lessons of history, which it was, there before we all left, someone took a snap of me between the obverse and reverse. And behind me are John Trumbulls murals. Incidentally, he laid down his brush to be George Washingtons aide to camp. Everything is connected. And a great story i have to quickly tell you. Al, as i wased getting ready to leave the rotunda, i was over the moon. Intended. Areeverhart, he said, joel, you going to the after event . Where nasa and families of the astronauts and the caucus room . I said i dont know anything about that. But a congressional aide to said please follow me. You want to go . I had a call of the United States mint. I was good to meet those folks for lunch. I said, im going to stay with don and see the ostrogoths at an after of them. See the astronauts at and after event. There is a gentleman sitting here, adam, it was not enough that when i followed don and to that caucus room, i got to shake everyones hand. I got to shake the hand of neil armstrong. I had a conversation about his remarks in the rotunda, which were soaring. Again, pun intended. I went over to john glenn. And at one point, i told him something that is a wonderful story i have to tell you. Talk about cool. When i first got the assignment, as a layman, my first question was, how will i portray friendship 7 . How to get inserted into orbit . What was his position, east to west around the globe . West to east . Rotationhe, you know, of the earth on its axis . I did not know anything about it. Even though i have spent time at nasa, this was long before i visited them. I got to go over to john glenn and i shook his hand. I said, senator glenn, i must tell you that when i was trying the representation of friendship 7 correctly on the medal, i came across the archives a kind of crummy pdf document from the manned space center. Something there was some they call a pilots flight report. I felt like i found, you know, the holy grail. Perfectly and, recounts fact ease, he the most hairraising various you could possibly imagine. Not i want to move this along. I was going to read to you. But i want to get to the questionandanswer period. While i was standing there telling him, a woman who was kind of in charge of things wanted to move the senator over to a photo op. And john glenn said, hold on. I am speaking to the man who designed the medal. And it was for me, and out of body experience. Because it was a page out of tom wolfe. Where the astronauts went up against the nasa brass and we are not look, going to be put in a capsule. That is a spacecraft. And we want a window for orientation. We want a control stick, we are not monkeys. Can. E not dogs, spam in a we are pilots. And as john glenn and the mercury astronauts did not get their way, john glenn would not have had a window. He would not have had a control stick. He would not have been able to manually adjust reentry, so he would avoid he would be burnt to a crisp. The mission would fail. We wouldve lost john glenn. These are some the back stories that go through my mind when im designing. Incidentally, i got to meet john glenn again because of adam, who is here today. Who was trying to garner enough support for legislation for the Ohio National heritage site. He is making good progress. There is good reason for it. There is a terminus amount of individuals who have been part of nasas Space Program as astronauts. They also spawned about six or seven u. S. President. And they love politics. Going to go kind of quickly here. Again, each and every one of these has a compelling story. They are very complex. Was in 2000, there congressional legislation that was signed into being to recognize the navajo in 2000. And they received their congressional gold medal, finally. It is specific to the european theaters where they saved many soldiers. They created many u. S. Victories. Because their code was unbroken, the professional decoders of the japanese and germans could not penetrate this language. , congress 2000 an008 said there were many other tribes that also been treated to the war effort. This one was my first congressional gold medal for the seminal code talkers. Parentheticaltic, consideration, if you look at the border, that is a seminole border. It means fluidity, communication. These kind of subtleties might be lost on some. But while youre putting this together, it is very important. It is very important, by the way, when these medals reach the recipient, when they recognize you have done your homework and you are trying to honor them accurately, they are very appreciative. And that is the pot of gold and the end of the rainbow for me, when i see the recipients say that the work rings true. The second one was the apache tribe. This is a much more active fire , running into which is what these men did. Provided cover with their indecipherable codes. Talkers. Code incidentally, i have to go back for a second. This was sculpted by joseph menna. By the way, all of the engravers in philadelphia are all classically trained. They are very much under song sometimes. But they are worldclass sculptors. Every time, i get a wonderful feeling when i see them bringing my twodimensional linear concepts to new heights. Pun intended, again. B54opi code talkers, flying above. Sculpted by don everhart. Ibe, in the background kind of faded, is the highly regarded chief white eagle. Ll. Lpted by phoebe hemphi here is where some of my experiences traveling with the air force kind of paid off in terms of, you know, first believability. The 50th anniversary of war war two, we went literally around the world to visit china, india, burma theater. We were in hawaii. At hickam airs force base. I visited the arizona. These things become powerful. When you have direct contact, as opposed to indirect contact, it is want to play a role in how you interpret this. It will mean so much more. India,n guam, being in himalayas, wehe went to china. Normandy witht to the air force, i also went down to fort bragg and saw the green berets, our special ops graduating from their training, from the rigorous training. And i also did a private sector painting, who parachuted into what was really a Suicide Mission to obscure bridges and normandy. Actually, it was an incredibly important factor in the success of freeing the peninsula from hitlers minions. The First SpecialService Forces were the only combined u. S. And Canadian Military unit. Landings,ade silent which is indicated by my vignette. Climbed mountains at incredible out the dudes and the most rigorous incredible altitudes and the most rigorous conditions. They lost many. But they were quite a group of men to encounter, when i got to see them get their congressional gold medal back in february of last year. Na. Sculpt was by joe men the reverse was done by a fellow , a. I. Peer. An artist, she is a program artist. That was the first, this is the lead of the infantry. So the arrow had to be a part of the infantry. Another piece of inside baseball. There was a commander for the men revered like napoleon. He was first in, always. And when he was relieved of his duty, these tough guys they made john wayne look like a wimp they broke down in tears. They broke down in tears. And i actually, i put fredericks portrait in the medal. He like my friend gary stern, who is here today. It is a medal given collectively. It was not going to fly. Ok, i will talk very little about this treated it is so meaningful. The we are, not far from Trinity Church where hamilton is interred. Where the events of that black day, that horrible, terrible, unimaginable day. What do you do if youre a narrative artist . If youre a narrative artist with a figurative background who likes to tell stories . With the background as an illustrator . What do you do . One size for congressional gold medals, theyre not like the medal of freedom or the National Arts metal, they are beautiful thing. Each one was individually crafted and struck specifically for the recipient. Each story is different. What would one do, what would you do for this story . When i came up, as best as i can linesbe to you, abstract it is a conceptual piece. I wasnt about to make this literal. Literally, it was too horrifying to contemplate doing anything literally or figuratively. Theories,into my art, i would just tell you what my thinking was. Really, my design is thinking with a pencil in your hand. So my thinking was, if i make lines going up, that could counteract the horrible and of the linesloss going down. They can also figure the towers we lost, indicative or diplomatic of the towers themselves. Our world was turned upside down a day, inverted. Im sure everyone feels the same way. It was unimaginable, sciencefictionlike horror. But it was real. I got a chance to visit the site, once on my own, is because i had to go. T, theyrough the min were striking a national medal. Then i visited the memorial as a construction site. Then again when the congressional gold medals were about to be struck, i went to new york. One for shanksville, pennsylvania. One for the pentagon. Kindness, with the of the u. S. Mint. But i learned by that direct encounter that the names on the parapet around the reflecting more thanmes 2000, i forget the exact number, forgive me the complexity of trying to arrange names in a respectful way, besides being a museum it is a memorial site, and to be respectful, they had algorithmite specialists to put together the names of everyone from all the from 1983 toved, 9 11. There were married couples. Indifferent towers. Ay couples withre g different surnames. The complexity and care that was taken was very impressive to me. And another thing, the reason shows i hope that little the spray from the Falling Water that is indicating the great loss the people at the 9 11 memorial at logistics problem. Inause with so many gone the calendar year, there is an average of 16 birthdays and other anniversaries. And people would come with flowers, it would be a logistics problem with mementos and flowers, tacked up on the fence at a church during the event. They took it upon themselves for every birthday, for every occasion to put a flower in the name these names are engraved into the wall like a gravestone. In designspeak, the legend or the inscription, which is always in the sky, it is the same indicated in my drawing as remember. Meaning it is raised. And when i found out that i was selected, i called up don everhart. Don, do me a favor. If we are going to do this right, let us in grave remember into the stone let us ingrave remember into the stone. And the other part of that is of course, the numbers you can well imagine. When you design in the round, it is very different than designing rectorlinearly. There are different rules you break as an artist. Again, this is a conceptual and somatic piece. I placed them very carefully as if the round face of this me dal were an analog clock. The first flight that hit at flights aree 93 exactly77, at the times the souls met their fate. It was a very emotional medal. I am very proud of it, as well. The sculpt was done by jim, inside baseball again, the lines were very difficult he told me, to get them raised and to get them to have integrity. It went through a lot of technical ups and downs to achieve this sculpt. Medals, medal, most congressional gold medals, our house at the smithsonian institution. But sometimes, at the end of the law, it does say that the sense of congress, the metal can travel on exhibition to be later return. In the case of the soldiers of sixd war ii, it troubled to asian museums including the world war ii museum. It is now part of the Permanent Collection at the smithsonian, part of the price of freedom. Served inan fighters, every theater of war, they served in world war i, they served in world war ii, they served in korea. And they served in vietnam. And each branch of service is represented. To meet those gentlemen when they receive their congressional hemphilll, phoebe again. I put in a couple of different versions to show the lighting, some show the portraiture better than others. Don everhart did a spectacular fourse witwith the crafts that are associated with these gentlemen. Not only the wings, aviator wings, in the center of those wings, showing the global reach of their efforts. And above them is an ace of spades. Which goes way back before world war i, associated with aviators all the way back to larry owens. Is my own shot with my iphone. I dislike that the lighting showed i just like that the lighting showed phoebes interpretation. This is the last line. Slide. This is what i was talking about at the outset. Where we got to witness the Monuments Men receiving their congressional gold medal. There were four, six surviving today. Four were present yesterday, including harry from new jersey. Germany, fledn with his family to america, weeks before kristallnacht. In a 19yearold new jerse lad joined the Monuments Men. And his job, his mission was to and save salt mines the altarpiece. The astronomer, which have put that in because it was not just artworks and sculpture, it was all of civilizations precious heritage. Voltaire,s, full they were taking everything. I got his big hairy, after he talked to the german press. The salt mines, they were pristine. This was chilling to me. They were clean and perfect. He said they were atmospherically controlled to protect the work . To protect from what . To protect from the face of pure evil. And in the face appear evil, what makes you feel so honored and privileged to be an american, and as american to get to tell some of these stirring that in our darkest and worst days like 9 11, which reminds us of what it must have been like at pearl harbor, what unimaginable horror and blackness of the holocaust, it also brings out the very finest of what human beings are capable of. That is what the congressional gold medal is really all about. It is been my privilege to be tasked with telling some of these stories. And it is my privilege to spend this time with you this afternoon, to tell you a little bit about my perspective. Thank you so much. [applause] she will kill me, she is such a private person, my beautiful wife is smiling. Things are good. There i came very close, is no time for a q and a, the weekend sneak one in. , but we can sneak on ne. In . Yes . I noticed in the first of three medals, you have the figures coming out of the boundary, even stepping over the inner boundary. I was wondering, was that deliberate on your part . To say that people are breaking barriers . Joel absolutely. Im glad you mentioned that. T only are they walking out to us. Let me see if i can get back to there. Yhat is very perceptive of you. The design aspect has to be tied the content. It has to contain a representation of something that youre trying to say. One. At what like that that ceremony in the bitter cold of 1944 meant great deals to these men. They were being comme complemented, they stayed in the mountains during the winter, that is iconic. But i thought you were referring, absolutely, i wanted them to break out break the third wall, come out to us, reach out to us. Absolutely. The same is true of the m1s. It is a convention. Art is really, the cost said it very well. As i said earlier, i love our art. D everything about ou everything about art. Im very fortunate because i get to represent something so meaningful. But yes, absolutely, it is meant to emphasize that i thought you were actually talking about, yes . They are breaking the surface. They really broke barriers for women of military pilots. It was breaking barriers. I also have the breaking through, and they love flying. By the way, a little inside. I worked very long and hard hours trying to find the right generic, going a long way, the right generic indication of what a woman would be like. And these women were not only they did lose, anything about being feminine. ,he women in the uniforms they still looked beautiful at the ceremony. Their hair was done. Wonderful woman. They broke barriers, yes. Did you have a ofcan you give us an idea who does your research . How are you coming up with those images . Joel do we have another couple hours . It is a complex scenario. Is first place i usually had a site, anywhere within my physical ability to reach, even if it was long ago, there will be a trail, there will be people who remember. That is my first. Itveling in the air force is a different experience. First here inmy my second is library of congress, national archives, things in the public domain. I do my own photography and use models. I next and match. Said, what was it like to be a creator of this work . Creator . Iand said, am not a creator. I take bits from here and there artist andassemblage you take from many sources in your recreate a brandnew image. Archives,ional library of congress, life models poses that wind up being the final pose. [inaudible] would you describe the back of the 9 11 metal . Joel i am so sorry, that is my omission. Is aack of the medal common reverse with different inscriptions. The imagery is a common reverse, and american bald eagle. I do not have a picture. It was designed in sculpted by. It is positioned away from the viewer three quarters and turning back as is to look in retrospect or introspection and , new york, the pentagon, pennsylvania, each of appropriate inscriptions. I could not tell you what they are right now. On all what the rivers three is what the reverse on all three is. The reverse on all three is. Their website has all the congressional gold medals. Descriptions. Yes . Is their actual gold in the gold medals . That is a great question. Yes. It is all solid gold. Imb on my pay scale to talk about this but from what i know, i know it is gold. There is one gold medal struck. It winds up in the smithsonian unless in a letter of the law, Congress Also says it can travel to appropriate venues such as the metal for this special Service Forces spent time in canada which is certainly appropriate. Knowledge, wind up back at the smithsonian. Al is housed here. I have yet to see it. I hope it is on display somewhere. Abouthat i know, it is 30,000 on wall street so we can talk money. It is about 30,000 worth of gold. I dont know what that might be as we meet here. The beautiful thing about the midis that it is the only agency that theres not operate at a deficit. It never costs the taxpayer to create congressional gold medals because bronze replicas of each andgiven to the recipients they are also available to sail for the general public. Ofont get free samples bronze and certainly not gold. I notice all of your medals. Re done in detail, minute i dont know how long it takes you to complete one to your satisfaction. Im just amazed how much you put into it, how much time. Going to askare how much i paid you to ask a question. Thank you. One size does not fit all. Sculptor had a wonderful post of an artist handing in a drawing to our isector and the director saying, why should i pay 2500 for this . You did that in 15 minutes. In the artist said, yes, but it took me a lifetime to be able to do it in 15 minutes. With that in mind, there is no rule of thumb. Each is different. In general, it is usually a few months. Unless i get a call and they say, joel, we need this right away. I unabashedly push everything away because of the nature of the work and i feel so privileged to contribute to a fine team. He will see that there are 18 of artists. These are not commissioned. Nobody is sitting at the Treasury Department saying, joel is a good artist, seven to the mohammed ali congressional medal it doesnt work that way. Procedurelaborate were each and every program is a contest between the 18 fine and sculptors also submit them. , sometimes there is a portfolio of 3040 different designs. And one is selected. Me the wayr told only he could, he speaks in a wonderful accent that is a combination of Robert De Niro and the godfather. He says, it feels like a rocket ship going off. I go with my nasa imagery. He was absolutely right. It doesnt get old. Because of the nature of what you are doing, to get a selection and my wife for tell you, he keeps on saying this is the most important one ever. [inaudible] i am not sure who designed it. Lafayette who George Washington called mon fils, my son. The two men really hit it off. The George Washington congressional medal was given to him by Thomas Jefferson 14 years after it was approved and struck in paris. I dont know who the designer and sculptor was but i know that it was struck in paris. That is a good question. I would bet the smithsonian or de paris. He monet thank you so much. Thank you for that goldmedal talk. Thank you so much. Announcer in october, congress awarded the congressional gold medal to the Monuments Men. The Award Ceremony at the Capitol Visitor Center is a halfhour. It begins with the president of. He foundation, robert ends all [applause] robert mr. Speaker, members of congress. 350re gathered to celebrate men and women who served in the Archives Section. And women,se men scholars, and soldiers. Only six are living. Two of them were unable to travel. Four of them are with us today. Members of monuments fathersur founding committed to us the cause of freedom. The Monuments Men respect to the preservation of our culture to it early as 1942, the leader of the Monuments Men in europe established their operations in postwar japan and argued that the creation of officers during the war to safeguard these things will not affect the course of battle but it will affect the relations of invading armies with those people and their governments to safeguard these things and show respect for the beliefs and customs of and will bear witness that these things the law not only to her particular people but also to the heritage of mankind. Of two Monuments Men would seem to argue that art is one of the laws of life. Himself whost missed his sons birthdays while serving in italy stated otherwise, the life of one american boy is worth infinitely more than any monument i know. He risked his life not to save beautiful objects but to defend the cause george stout wrote about. Preservation of our shared heritage. Dream big date because todays celebration is the culmination of nine years of service. Thanks to the dedicated work of several authors, researchers, and an attorney in our audience in the advocacy of the foundation for the preservation of art, the achievements of these heroes of civilization are now widely known. The sacrifices of the Monuments Men and the dedication of all of those who served in the fine arts and Archives Section will. Ot reside in our memory rather, they will live in our hearts to inspire us to protect and preserve things of knowledge and beauty that we have inherited. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the United States army band and army voices