Bio

Elana Hagler is a painter and numismatic artist based in the Los Angeles area. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, she immigrated to the United States at the age of five. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in both Studio Art and Psychology from Brandeis University in Boston, and later pursued intensive figurative painting and drawing training at the Jerusalem Studio School’s Master Class and in Umbria, Italy. She went on to receive her Master of Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia—the nation’s oldest art school and museum.

Elana’s work has been exhibited across the United States and internationally, earning her numerous awards in painting and drawing. Over the course of fourteen years, she taught fine art at institutions including Swarthmore College, the Delaware College of Art and Design, and Cornell College, and served as an Assistant then Associate Professor of Art at Alabama State University. In recent years, she returned with her family to California to dedicate herself fully to her creative practice.

In 2019, Elana was selected to join the United States Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program, launching her career in numismatic design. Since then, she has created coins and medals for the U.S. Mint as well as for other private mints and organizations both nationally and internationally. In August of 2024, Elana’s design for the American Liberty Gold Coin featuring a bristlecone pine was awarded Coin of the Year at the World’s Fair of Money.

Elana’s work is grounded in a commitment to rigorous observation and shaped by a lifelong engagement with art history. Her practice blends classical foundations with a contemporary clarity of composition and an intuitive, nuanced approach to storytelling.

Follow Elana Hagler on Facebook and Instagram for the most current updates.

Email the artist for further information on specific artwork or to commission a painting or drawing.

Listen to Elana's interview with Antrese Wood on the Savvy Painter Podcast.

Watch Elana's conversation on coin design with Elisabeth Palmer of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.