With one hand on the throttle and the other on her sketchbook, Alaska Railroad conductor-turned-artist Riana Sather brings her passion for rails and wildlife into sharp relief—she calls the trains “like my second home” and says that losing three jobs in one week at the start of the pandemic unexpectedly opened up the chance to “explore my goals as an artist.”
How a young Alaskan graphite artist, and full-time train conductor, became the creative force behind this year’s official medallion.
By Gina Hill | Alaska Headline Living | November 2025
The Alaska Mint’s 2026 Official State of Alaska Medallion has made its debut, and its featured star isn’t just the bear cub clinging to a tree branch. It’s the artist behind it. This year’s winning design comes from Riana Sather, an Alaskan graphite artist whose life moves between two tracks: the creative quiet of her sketchbook and the steel rails of the Alaska Railroad, where she works as a conductor.
Sather’s story is young, distinctly Alaskan, and full of the kind of turns that make for good art. On her website’s About page, she describes the moment it began: “When I was thirteen years old, I picked up a pencil for the first time to draw… Being homeschooled my whole life gave me the opportunity to do this while I was still in high school!”
But the path wasn’t straight. As she writes, “Fast forward a few years, I found myself distracted by the hustle and bustle of the food industry … However, when the covid pandemic first began, I lost three jobs in one week. While at the time things did not seem to be going very well, it actually gave me an opportunity to explore my goals as an artist.”
That unexpected pivot, from pandemic upheaval to creative clarity, set her on the course that eventually led to this year’s state medallion.
The Alaska Mint announced the unveiling on its social media channels, inviting the public to meet Sather on November 7, 2025, at the Anchorage shop. Promoted as the “winning artist,” she was there in person, greeting visitors and showing the graphite precision that defines her work. Fans of her Instagram account, @artsyrere, know the look well: intimate wildlife studies and portrait-style sketches shaped by the long miles she travels as a railroad conductor, where Alaska’s mountains, forests, and trackside surprises become daily companions.
The medallion itself comes in several editions: one-ounce pure silver, single- and double-sided gold relief, and larger two-ounce versions, and features the Seal of the State of Alaska on the reverse, a hallmark of all official state medallions. The Alaska Mint pairs the release with background on Alaska’s black bears, noting their abundance, an estimated 100,000 statewide, and their defining traits, from powerful claws to an extraordinary sense of smell. Though the wildlife notes speak broadly about adults rather than cubs, they highlight why the bear remains one of Alaska’s most iconic ambassadors.
What isn’t publicly detailed is the step-by-step making of Sather’s bear cub design. Neither she nor the Mint has released preliminary sketches or a design diary. But the public unveiling, the artist’s presence at the event, and her own story make clear that this medallion is more than a contest-winning submission. It reflects the blend of place, resilience, and lived experience that defines Sather’s work from the moment a 13-year-old picked up a pencil, to a pandemic turning point, to a railroad conductor whose art now rides into Alaska’s official history in silver and gold.
