2020 Coast Guard Art Program
About the Coast Guard Art Program
The Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) uses fine art as an outreach tool for educating diverse audiences about the Coast Guard. Today, more than ever, the Service addresses an abundance of challenges as it works to maintain the nation’s security at home and abroad and executes its statutory missions. COGAP art provides visual testimony to the unique contribution the Service makes to the nation in its multifaceted roles as a military, humanitarian and law enforcement organization. Art from the program is exhibited at museums around the country. It is displayed in the offices of members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials and other military services and Coast Guard locations nationwide. It has also been displayed by the State Department in its prestigious Art in Embassies program.
Today, the collection holds over 2,000 works that capture the myriad missions the 43,330 active-duty men and women of the Coast Guard perform daily, including homeland security, search and rescue, marine environmental protection, drug interdiction, national defense and natural resource management. Paintings and drawings bring to life the work performed by the Coast Guard and are visual testimony to the Service’s contributions to the country.
The 2020 collection is comprised of 31 works by 22 artists. Eight are the result of artist deployments to missions underrepresented in the collection. Among mission areas and units captured during these deployments are the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, S.C., and HITRON, the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based in Florida and Air Station Washington, D.C. Other new works highlight patrols and inspections, rescue missions, training exercises, living marine resources, illegal drug interdiction and the unsung heroes who help make the Service strong. All these works are generously donated by COGAP members, most of whom are professional artists.
Please enjoy this virtual exhibition of artwork from 2020.
Frank Gaffney
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Mountlake Terrace, Wash.
A Coast Guard maritime enforcement officer works with a member of the Gambian Navy to treat a simulated wound while conducting training in Banjul, Gambia. The training, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command, aims to improve regional cooperation, maritime domain awareness, information sharing and tactical interdiction expertise with Gulf of Guinea and West African nations.
Tom Hedderich
Watercolor
10 x 16 inches
Westtown, N.Y.
Coast Guard boarding team members from the Cutter Valiant climb aboard a suspected smuggling vessel. Crew intercepted a drug-laden 40-foot self-propelled semi-submersible in the Eastern Pacific Ocean carrying approximately 12,000 pounds of cocaine with a street value of more than $165 million. Four suspected smugglers were apprehended. The Coast Guard is the first line of defense against drug smugglers trying to bring illegal substances into the U.S. Annually, Coast Guard drug interdiction accounts for more than half of all U.S. government seizures of cocaine.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202014
Richard Johnson
Pencil
10 x 16 inches
Mount Airy, Md.
A crewmember of Air Station Washington performs routine service on the engine of a helicopter. Crew regularly scrambles to intercept aircraft that stray into restricted airspace at such locations as the White House and the Capitol. The station is located at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport just outside Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202015
Richard Johnson
Pencil
18 x 25 inches
Crew work on the systems of a MH-65C Dolphin helicopter to maintain its readiness. The helicopter, housed in the HITRON hangar in Jacksonville, Fla., is an important tool in the fight against contraband. Arrayed on the walls are dozens of drug-boat outboard engine casings which were fired on by Coast Guard gunners.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202019
Karen Loew
Oil
12 x 12 inches
An instructor looks on as Coast Guard crewmembers practice defense and control techniques at the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, S.C. Each member learns how to instruct others, so that when the member returns to their unit, he or she can teach members in their unit. This day’s exercises taught protection of both self and weapon.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202022
Dennis Boom
Oil
15 x30 inches
Hillsboro, Ore.
An MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Los Angeles conducts a flyover of the Point Vicente Lighthouse. Construction on the 67-foot lighthouse began in 1926. North of Los Angeles Harbor, it is located between Point Conception Lighthouse to the north and Point Loma Lighthouse to the south.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202004
John Deckert
Oil
18 x 24 inches
Santa Rosa, Calif.
A motor lifeboat crew practices surf entry drills off Salman Creek Beach near Coast Guard Station Bodega Bay, Calif. These boats must be able to navigate heavy wave conditions like those shown here. Surfmen are among the Service’s most proficient small boat operators. There are 19 designated surf stations in the Coast Guard, with the majority being on the Pacific Coast.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202006
Hugh O’Connor
Watercolor and pencil
10 x 21 inches
St. Clair Shores, Mich.
Crew from the Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk overtakes a semi-submersible drug-running boat—also called go-fasts—operating in the Pacific Ocean. The Coast Guard coordinates closely with other federal agencies and countries within a vast six million square-mile region to disrupt and deter the flow of illegal drugs.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202025
Leendert van der Pool
Oil
24 x 18 inches
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Coast Guard crewmembers from Sector Lower Mississippi River search for stranded victims of Hurricane Florence in Jones County, N.C. The category four hurricane caused widespread devastation particularly in the Carolinas due to torrential rain and flooding. Coast Guard teams were pre-positioned in flood-prone zones to better respond. Minimizing loss of life, injury, and property damage by rendering aid to persons in distress and property is a top priority.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202029
Acacia Anglin
Watercolor
14 x 10 inches
Port Angeles, Wash.
Coast Guard service members work with a team from the Pacific Marine Mammal Center to release Franklin, a sea lion, from the Coast Guard Cutter Edisto, near Catalina Island in California. Protecting the delicate ecosystem of the oceans is a vital Coast Guard mission. The Coast Guard develops and enforces regulations to avert the introduction of invasive species into the maritime environment, stops unauthorized ocean dumping, and prevents oil and chemical spills.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202002
Richard Johnson
Pencil
18 x 30 inches
Air Station Washington helicopter pilots regularly patrol the Metro area including the Potomac River and restricted airspace around locations such as the Capitol. Here a pilot conducts a preflight check to ensure all systems are operational.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202016
J.C. Jim Smith
Mixed medium
10 x 16 inches
McMinnville, Ore.
A Coast Guard crewmember performs maintenance on an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter assigned to the Service’s air facility at Newport, Ore. The facility is part of Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, which also includes six motor lifeboat stations, an Aids to Navigation team and the Coast Guard Cutter Orcas.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202027
John Ward
Acrylic
16 x 31 inches
Saranac Lake, N.Y.
An Air Station Houston MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter aircrew rescues a 58-year-old man from an oil tanker 50 miles south of Galveston, Texas. The captain of the tanker requested a Coast Guard medevac after the victim—a tanker crewmember—experienced symptoms of a heart attack. The Coast Guard is recognized worldwide as a leader in the field of search and rescue.
Anne Kullaf
Oil
11 x 14 inches
Philadelphia, Pa.
Coast Guard crew load a victim of Hurricane Dorian onto a helicopter in the Bahamas. The Coast Guard sent MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and health service technicians to aid the stricken nation in 2019. The category five storm was considered the worst natural disaster to ever strike the Bahamas with the actual number of deaths unknown and damages estimated over $3.4 billion.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202020
Amy Digi
Oil
18 x 20 inches
Yonkers, N.Y.
The Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT) West participates in a multi- hazard exercise aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton as it deploys in Asia’s Yellow Sea. The team is trained not only in multi-hazard detection but in boarding and securing vessels and close quarters combat.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202008
Oscar Romero
Oil
14 x 20 inches
Sacramento, Calif.
Coast Guard crewmembers work to repair the fuel line of an HC-271 Spartan aircraft in the hangar at Air Station Sacramento. The station, commissioned in 1978, is located at the north end of McClellan Airfield and was established as an outgrowth of Air Station San Francisco.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202026
MST3 Thomas Unger
Coffee
16 x 20 inches
New Bern, N.C.
A Marine Safety Detachment Port State Control examiner, based in Fort Macon near Nags Head, N.C., communicates to a freight vessel crewmember, asking him to run the engine of the vessel’s lifeboat. Inspections aim to prevent accidents and promote vessel safety. In one year alone, the Coast Guard in North Carolina conducted over 340 such inspections.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202028
Daven Anderson
Oil
38 x 42 inches
St. Louis, Mo.
A Coast Guard medium response boat from Sector New York is shown trailing a Staten Island ferry. The Coast Guard maintains a high state of vigilance in New York Harbor. The Sector command focuses on prevention and response in support of maritime safety, security and mobility, protection of natural resources and national defense. The Port of New York/New Jersey is the third largest U.S. port and boasts the largest civilian population in a U.S. port area.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202001
Richard Johnson
Pencil
16 x 10 inches
HITRON—the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron based in Jacksonville, Fla.,— forward deploys armed helicopters to high threat drug trafficking and high risk security areas. Here a gunner’s mate trains his rifle on a go-fast boat with suspected drug smugglers. Signals, radio calls, and warning shots are used to halt suspected vessels and to avoid injury. HITRON members undergo rigorous training. Crews are often embarked on cutters patrolling the Drug Transit Zone, a six-million square mile area including the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific. This work bears the name of the squadron’s motto.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202017
John Deckert
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Santa Rosa, Calif.
A Coast Guard service member stands vigilant in the engine room of the 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye. The cutter is homeported in Bodega Bay, Calif. A coastal patrol boat, the cutter’s missions include search and rescue, law enforcement, environmental protection, and homeland security.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202007
Richard Johnson
Pencil
16 x 10 inches
Two AMTs—Aviation Maintenance Technicians, the Service’s aircraft surgeons—replace landing gear components on an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter. The helicopter is part of the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) based in Jacksonville, Fla. Among its various missions, the squadron regularly interdicts smugglers’ attempts to bring contraband into the U.S.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202018
Fred J. Feiler
Oil
12 x 18 inches
Oneonta, N.Y.
A Boatswain’s Mate aboard a 47-foot motor lifeboat watches for boat traffic as crew from Air Station Cape Cod practices a rescue. The crew of the medium range rescue MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter will lower the rescue basket to take the victim to safety.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202011
James Dyekman
Watercolor
16 x 24 inches
Chesapeake, Md.
Boarding teams from the Cutter Bertholf interdict a go-fast vessel in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, seizing more than 3,100 pounds of cocaine. Go-fast vessels are designed to smuggle large amounts of contraband while evading detection by law enforcement due to their camouflaged appearance and low profile. Stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. is one way in which the Coast Guard serves the nation.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202010
Karen Loew
Oil
16 x 12 inches
New York, N.Y.
Members of Canadian law enforcement agencies train alongside U.S. Coast Guard members at the Maritime Law Enforcement Academy in Charleston, S.C. They are learning United States and Canadian boarding procedures for the Integrated Cross-border Maritime Law Enforcement Program. The Canadian officer makes contact by hand-held VHF radio to crew on the training boat platform M/V—Motor Vessel— Serenity Now.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202021
MK2 Jasen Newman
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Port Angeles, Wash.
A cutter surface swimmer gets assistance climbing the Jacob’s ladder of the Coast Guard Cutter Active. Volunteers to the cutter swimmer program utilize their strong swimming abilities to assist shipmates who may have fallen overboard and other hapless victims.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202024
Chuck Van Horn
Watercolor
13 x 21 inches
Glen Head, N.Y.
Crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Spar services a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather data buoy in the Bering Sea during a summer Arctic and Bering Sea patrol. The cutter, known as the Aleutian Keeper, is a 225-foot oceangoing buoy tender homeported in Kodiak, Alaska. Its many missions include ice breaking, environmental protection, maritime law enforcement and search and rescue.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202030
Sandra Hart
Acrylic
24 x 20 inches
Arlington Heights, Ill.
The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw delivers Christmas trees to Chicago from Northern Michigan for distribution to underprivileged families in the area. The practice of bringing trees to Chicago by boat was started in the 1880s by owners of the Rouse Simmons, the original Christmas ship. The ship sank in 1912 and the practice of bringing trees was resumed by the Coast Guard. The Mackinaw takes the same route as the Rouse Simmons and stops at the shipwreck site to commemorate the original vessel and its crew with a wreath-laying ceremony. For two decades the Coast Guard has been performing this mission.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202013
Dennis Boom
Oil
18 x 24 inches
Hillsboro, Ore.
A Coast Guard Air Station Miami aircrew prepares for a training flight at Opa-locka Executive Airport in Opa-locka, Fla. The air station operates a fleet of five MH-65D helicopters and five HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202003
James Dyekman
Pencil
19 x 25 inches
Chesapeake, Md.
A Coast Guard senior chief musician warms up backstage on the tuba before a Coast Guard Band concert. The Band tours in the U.S. and overseas, representing the men and women of the Coast Guard and serving as musical ambassadors. Smaller ensembles such as the Band’s Woodwind Quintet frequently perform at schools to educate children and young adults about such topics as math, science, music and the Coast Guard.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202009
Karen Loew
Oil
18 x 14 inches
Members of the U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conduct a joint cross-border mock boarding training exercise aboard the M/V—Motor Vessel—Bostwick in simulated Canadian waters. In this exercise, an RCMP officer takes the lead in an arrest for a violation of the Canadian Controlled Drug and Substance Act.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202023
Susanne Corbellata
Oil
30 x 24 inches
Glen Head, N.Y.
An assistant fire chief at the Coast Guard Fire and Rescue Department, Base Kodiak, Alaska, ignites the fire pit before simulating aircraft fire training. Underwater pipes pump fuel to the center of the pit, which serves as the training ground. The department has been in service since 1993. It is equipped for complete aircraft rescue and structural fire response and also has life support emergency response personnel.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202005