Coggins Award

Jack Banham Coggins was born in London in 1911. The family migrated to the United States in 1923, moving to Long Island, NY. After studying at New York’s Grand Central School of Art (1931 – 1933) and the Art Students League (1933 – 1934). Jack worked as a freelance artist, doing illustrations for magazines and papers.

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Jack received commissions from the War Department for illustrations and contributed to Life magazine and PM newspaper. He joined the Army in 1943, but was pulled from basic training to serve as an artist correspondent for Yank magazine in New York and Europe.

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In the ensuing years, Jack executed covers for science fiction magazines, wrote and illustrated numerous books, and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with his wife Alma Woods. He taught master classes at the Institute of the Arts and was a beloved teacher for 45 years.