Masaharu Kakitsubo is Director of Shoei, a private mint in Tokyo. He is a collector of Japanese art medals dating from early through mid 1900’s, as well as plaster medal molds from the same period. He is also a supporter and enthusiastic collector of international medallic art.

Mary N. Lannin served as a member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), an advisory body to the United States Mint. She is a Life Member of the American Numismatic Society and is currently serving as Vice President of the New York Numismatic Club. Current collecting interests are pedigreed coins, especially from women’s collections as well as early collectors of the 20th century and their interactions with dealers and with each other.

Scott Miller is a long-time collector and researcher of medallic art, especially those of the United States, France, and Great Britain. His book, Medallic Art of the American Numismatic Society, 1865-2014, was published in 2015.

Ann Shaper Pollack (1933-2022) was an accomplished artist who worked in a variety of mediums including jewelry, silversmithing, sculpture, and medallic art. She was a proud member of numerous medallic art societies including the British Art Medal Society, FIDEM, Medallic Society of Canada, American Numismatic Association, American Numismatic Society, and the National Sculpture Society, and American Medallic Sculpture Association American AMSA where she served as president from 1997-1999.

Ann and her husband, Jason, were enthusiastic supporters of aspiring students of the medallic arts and major contributors to Medialia Gallery’s New Approach project, particularly the annual traveling student exhibition NEW IDEAS IN MEDALLIC SCULPTURE. Ann established the Pollack Award for an American Artist for the inaugural New Approach International Medallic Art Competition for Emerging Artists in 2011, a tradition that we continue in gratitude.

Dr. Ira Rezak has been collecting and studying medals, mostly focusing on Jewish and Medical themes, for more than sixty years.

Donald Scarinci is the senior member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), a Congressionally created advisory board to the United States Mint, and a nominator of the annual Krause Coin of the Year Award. He has authored four books, and writes and lectures regularly on the topic of coin and art medal design. His extensive collection of art medals is considered one of the largest privately held collections in the United States.

Stephen K. Scher has lectured and published extensively on medieval and Renaissance art. His medal catalogues including The Scher Collection of Commemorative Medals and The Currency of Fame: Portrait Medals of the Renaissance after curating an exhibition of the same title for the Frick Collection. In 2017, Scher and his wife, Janie Woo, donated their extensive medal collection to the Frick Collection in New York City.

Frederic and Robin have been married for sixty-nine years and have a family that includes three great-grandchildren. They have lived many places, but for the last forty years in New York City. Frederic graduated from Williams College and was a computer consultant, retiring as a Vice President of Arthur D. Little, Inc. He wrote four books about the computer industry. Robin graduated from Smith College and has worked as a volunteer for numerous organizations. For many years they have been collecting medals as both historical documents and as works of art. Frederic is a Life Fellow of the American Numismatic Society, and both he with Robin are members of the New York Numismatic Club.

Their encouragement and contributions made the establishment Medialia Gallery’s nonprofit organization, New Approach, possible in 2001. They share a hope that the art of the medal, and scholarship for its past, will continue to flourish into the future.

David Baruch Simpson (1938-2022) was an avid reader and a true intellectual who absorbed astonishing amounts of information from a wide range of publications in both the legal and art fields. He was a passionate numismatist for much of his life, collecting first coins, and later branching out to medallic art. He was a Fellow of the American Numismatic Society, serving on its Council for several years, and was actively involved with the New York Numismatic Club, serving as President from 2002-2004, and later on its Board of Directors.
His extensive collection of medallic art showed David's keen interest in German and other satiric issues of World War I which often depicted the horrors and brutality of warfare.

David was enthusiastic supporter of modern medallic artists, promoting the future of the medallic art. His wife, Nancy Simpson, and family, continue to support David's interest in the field.

New Approach was founded in 2013 through the encouragement, donations, and expertise of artists and collectors passionate about the culture of numismatics and contemporary medallic sculpture. Education, workshops, themed exhibitions, and international competitions are the hallmarks of New Approach, and our contribution to a global history of numismatics and medallic sculpture.

Ann Shaper Pollack (1933–2022) was an accomplished artist who worked in a variety of mediums, including jewelry, silversmithing, sculpture, and medallic art. She was a member of numerous national/international medallic art organizations. She was the president of American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA) from 1997-1999.

Ann Pollack and her husband Jason were enthusiastic supporters of aspiring students of the medallic arts and major contributors to New Approach projects. For the annual international travelling student exhibition NEW IDEAS IN MEDALLIC SCULPTURE (1996–2020), Ann created the Pollack Award for an American Artist (2004–2013). After Jason’s death, Ann continued their philanthropy and became an enthusiastic supporter of the New Approach International Medallic Art Competition for Emerging Artists, including sponsorship of an award for an American artist. The Pollack family continues to honor Ann’s passion for the medallic arts for the Fourth New Approach Competition.