2022 Coast Guard Art Program
About the 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 overseas in its prestigious Art in Embassies program.
This year marks the 41th anniversary of the Coast Guard Art Program. Today, the collection holds over 2,000 works that capture the myriad missions the more than 41,000 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 vividly demonstrate the Service’s contributions to the country.
The 2022 collection is comprised of 38 works of art created by 27 artists. Among missions captured in these remarkable works are the many varied training exercises that help the Coast Guard be Semper Paratus, illegal drug interdiction, protecting the marine environment and living marine resources, work on aids to navigation, working dogs in service to the Coast Guard and daring search and rescue missions including rescues of stranded canines. All works are generously donated by COGAP members, most of whom are professional artists.
Please enjoy this virtual exhibition of artwork from 2022.
Kristin Hosbein
Oil
24 x 12 inches
St. Joseph, Mich. Coast Guard officers aboard the Cutter SWORDFISH assist non-Coast Guard civilians plunge into the cold waters of Puget Sound in Seattle. Here they experience first-hand the life-saving merits of survival suits. Hypothermia is a major cause of death at sea and survival suits such as these are used when necessary to abandon ship in cold waters. The civilians were part of a program designed to strengthen industry knowledge of and collaboration with the Coast Guard and its missions. The dog, Saylor, is a ship-board resident and faithful observer.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202214
Don Hatcher
Acrylic
16 x 20 inches
Newport, Wash.
A Coast Guard aviation survival technician, better known as a rescue swimmer, from an Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, carries an injured woman to emergency medical personnel at the Kodiak Municipal Airport. The Kodiak Police Department requested the Coast Guard assist in the rescue.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202212
Don Hatcher
Acrylic
16 x 20 inches
Newport, Wash.
A member of the Grays Harbor Station in Washington State repairs the light of a buoy on the Chehalis River. The coastal station, located near the Olympic Peninsula, also conducts search and rescue, law enforcement, and environmental missions.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202210
Sandra Hart
Acrylic
24 x 30 inches
Arlington Heights, Ill.
A Coast Guard crew member oversees the recovery of a malfunctioning navigational mooring by the Cutter HEALY while the cutter was operating in the Arctic Ocean. The cutter deployed to the Arctic for three months where the crew carried out multiple scientific research missions and supported Operation Arctic Shield.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202209
Frank Gaffney
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Mountlake Terrace, Wash.
Coast Guard dive team members deployed to both the Coast Guard Cutters POLAR STAR and HEALY conduct underwater inspections of the hulls and propellers to check for damage incurred while the cutters break ice. The success of the dive teams during these missions increases the Coast Guard’s capabilities in both the Arctic and the Antarctic regions.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202208
Amy Digi
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
A Coast Guard petty officer serving as assistant safety officer for the Hurricane Ida Incident Command Post identifies potential safety hazards in Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s southernmost seaport. Hurricane Ida was the second most damaging hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. The Coast Guard works with interagency partners to identify and clear displaced vessels and hazards to navigation affecting vessel traffic in federal waterways.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202206
Amy Digi
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
Response workers inspect for possible damage from an oil spill in Revere, Mass. Coast Guard, federal, state and local agencies responded after receiving a report that a tanker truck carrying some 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel had overturned.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202207
Kathleen Denis
Acrylic
16 x 20 inches
Palm Beach Shores, Fla.
A Coast Guard law enforcement officer aboard the Cutter JAMES wraps a pallet of illegal narcotics in Port Everglades, Fla. The seized contraband has a street value of over $1 billion. The fight against contraband and illegal drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea requires a unity of effort–from detection, monitoring, and interdictions to criminal prosecutions–by international and U.S. partners.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202205
Susanne Corbelletta
Oil
18 x 24 inches
Glen Head, N.Y.
A Coast Guard petty officer observes the waters of the Gulf of Mexico from a C-130 aircraft deployed from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater in Florida. Such aerial surveys are common practice in monitoring the extent of accidents such as oil spills.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202204
Daniel Coolbrith Jones
Oil
12 x 16 inches
Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Members from an Orange County team conduct cleanup operations after 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled off the shore of a Corona Del Mar state beach in California. The Coast Guard was the lead agency as federal, state and local partners worked to ensure there was minimal impact to the environment. A Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter flew overhead, surveying the area.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202221
George Cavallo
Acrylic
36 x 24 inches
Renton, Wash.
Getting a victim into a helicopter takes great skill and training. The unique perspective of the rescue hook here is a common sight for Coast Guard rescue swimmers as they often work in harsh hurricane-force winds, rotor wash, and turbulent seas during rescues.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202203
C.R. “Bob” Bryant
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Cape Neddick, Maine
With his canine partner firmly held, a Coast Guard service member with the Marine Safety and Security Team in Galveston, Texas, is hoisted down from an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter deployed from Air Station Houston to a waiting boat. The hoist was part of a training evolution designed to acclimate the dog and handler with the aerial entry process.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202202
Daven Anderson
Oil
16 x 20 inches
St. Louis, Mo.
A Coast Guard Cutter HEALY crew member pulls herself out from the frigid Arctic Ocean during ice rescue training while the brilliant northern sun glistens light on the cutter. Meanwhile, scientists abroad the cutter investigate ocean dynamics for the Office of Naval Research. With Coast Guard help, the scientists will deploy sensors and semi-autonomous submarines to aid the research. The HEALY, homeported in Seattle, is the only military ship dedicated to conducting research in the Arctic.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202201
Elizabeth R. Whelan
Oil
18 x 24 inches
Edgartown, Mass.
An aviation survival technician—better known as a rescue swimmer—is vigilant as he sits in a Jayhawk helicopter and completes his preparation for hoist training off the coast of Chatham, Mass. During an average day, the Coast Guard conducts 42 search and rescue cases, and saves 12 lives and over $114,000 in property.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202238
John Ward
Acrylic
24.5 x 17 inches
Saranac Lake, N.Y.
A crew member aboard the Coast Guard Cutter BRISTOL BAY secures a buoy to the deck of an aids-to-navigation barge during buoy operations on Lake Erie. This work aims to limit damage to navigational buoys during the winter months.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202237
YN1 Jorge Vega
Acrylic
16 x 20 inches
Juneau, Alaska
Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City crew members release an oceanographic buoy from a C-130J aircraft into the north Atlantic Ocean during a deployment with the International Ice Patrol (IIP). IIP was formed in response to the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 and has since monitored iceberg dangers in the Atlantic. The IIP, led by the Coast Guard, consists of 13 maritime nations. Since it was formed in 1914, no ships or lives have been lost due to icebergs.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202236
Leendert van der Pool
Oil
18 x 24 inches
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Even when at sea, Coast Guard members do all to ensure fitness. Here, crew members of the Cutter STONE exercise while deployed in the South Atlantic. Workouts at sea can be challenging but the team takes advantage of an onboard gym and uses the flight deck as a running track.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202235
MST2 Thomas Unger
Heavy fuel oil from wreck – age of 80 year old tanker
16 x 20 inches
Key West, Fla.
Commerce and warfare have left a legacy of thousands of sunken vessels along the American coast. Many of these wrecks pose environmental and other threats. The Sector Key West Incident Management Team worked to mitigate a pollution threat from the wreckage of tanker vessel Munger T. Ball and removed over 35,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil. Depicted here is a Coast Guard Service member helping a contractor open a fuel oil sample from the tanker. This work of art uses the fuel oil as a medium: Thus it shows an important mission while also preserving a chapter in American history.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202234
Ken Stetz
Oil
30 x 20 inches
Collegeville, Penn.
An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Sector Columbia River in Oregon deploys Maritime Safety and Security Team members during vertical delivery training near the entrance to the Columbia River. The training included canine explosive detection teams who deployed to the deck of a nearby commercial vessel. In the distance is Oregon’s famed Mount Hood.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202233
Ken Smith
Oil
30.5 x 23 inches
Pulaski, Va.
As evening darkness approaches, a Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT) trains in fast rope insertion from a helicopter to a waiting vessel off the coast of Norfolk, Va. MSRTs are the Service’s counter-terrorism force, serving both domestically and aboard. The team depicted here is based in Virginia.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202232
J.C. “Jim” Smith
Watercolor
18.5 x 15.5 inches
McMinnville, Ore.
Ricky, a canine service member of the Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team based in Alameda, Calif., is fitted out in his helicopter vertical delivery gear during his training. Serving alongside human Service members, these canines are some of the military’s most skilled working dogs. Whether on land or sea these four-legged defenders help protect the U.S. The many duties they perform are explosive detection, narcotics detection and water rescue. Ricky, a Belgian Malinois, is particularly skilled in detecting explosives and other contraband.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202231
J.C. “Jim” Smith
Graphite
18.8 x 15.5 inches
McMinnville, Ore.
A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter maneuvers for a landing at Air Station Kodiak in Alaska. Considered a Coast Guard workhorse, the helicopter has a range of 807 miles and a speed of 207 mph. Along with its four-member crew, it can carry up to six passengers.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202229
J.C. “Jim” Smith
Watercolor
15.8 x 18.5 inches
McMinnville, Ore.
While performing ice breaking duties near Detroit, Mich., crew of the Coast Cutter BRISTOL BAY spotted an injured and apparently abandoned dog on an ice flow. Two crew members were dispatched to rescue the distressed dog. The canine was taken aboard where crew cared for him and his numerous injuries. He was aptly named “Lucky” by crew members and later transferred to local authorities when the cutter returned to port.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202230
Stephen Roberson
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Arlington, Va.
A Coast Guard petty officer from Air Station Miami carries a sick child off an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter arriving from Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico. The child, suffering from acute appendicitis, was airlifted by the helicopter crew from the town of San Jose de Ocoa in the Dominican Republic. This mountain city was cut off when lashed by a tropical storm that caused severe mudslides and flooding resulting in over 80 deaths.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202228
Jim Richards
Oil
12 x 16 inches
Salem, Ore.
An aviation survival technician—better known as a rescue swimmer—is lowered from an MH-60 Dolphin helicopter during the rescue of seven people from the sheer cliffs near Yaquina Head, Ore. Three adults and four children were trapped on the cliffs after being swept away from safer waters by a riptide current.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202227
Priscilla Messner-Patterson
Transparent watercolor
11 x 14 inches
Post Falls, Idaho
An Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew approaches the village of Akhiok, Alaska, to assist Kodiak Area Native Association personnel deliver COVID-19 vaccines in Akhiok. The Coast Guard, with local assistance, helped deliver COVID-19 vaccines to remote Kodiak Island communities.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202226
Karen Loew
Oil
18 x 18 inches
New York, N.Y.
Because of shipping backlogs largely due to the COVID virus, port facilities on the West Coast were clogged with freighters unable to offload their shipping containers. Many of these massive ships, such as the one depicted here in Elliot Bay near Seattle, had to anchor in the outlying waters during what became a maritime crisis.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202225
Kirk Larsen
Oil
16 x 20 inches
Hicksville, N.Y.
Crew members from Coast Guard Cutter KATMIA BAY and emergency workers embark a patient being medevacked from Mackinac Island, Mich. While helicopters are normally used for such rescues, difficult weather conditions made flight near impossible. The icebreaker was diverted from the St. Marys River where it had been cutting a path for commercial vessels. With patient on board, the cutter then plowed a path to St. Ignace where the patient was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202224
Debra Keirce
Oil
24 x 21 inches
Broadlands, Va.
Three members of a Coast Guard Color Guard at Sector Maryland-National Capital Region retire the colors—ceremonial flags—following the singing of the national anthem at an annual baseball “world series” for young players taking place in Aberdeen, Md. Flags of the United States and the Coast Guard are shown here.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202223
Debra Keirce
Oil
20 x 16 inches
Broadlands, Va.
Currents in the Pacific Ocean bring derelict fishing nets and gear to Hawaiian waters. These pose safety hazards to ships and cause extensive damage to the ecosystem by snagging on coral reefs and entangling wild life. Here a crew member from the Coast Guard Cutter WALNUT recovers fishnet from Lisianski Island and the Pearl and Hermes reefs. The WALNUT was joined by personnel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to remove more than 57,500 pounds of marine debris.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202222
Richard Johnson
10 x 6 inches
The AST officer gets ready to descend the rope.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202216
10 x 6 inches
A Coast Guard service member takes notes during a briefing.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202220
10 x 6 inches
A boatswain’s mate monitors the safety lines.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202219
Richard Johnson
10 x 10 inches
A service member checks ropes.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202218
Richard Johnson
6 x 10 inches
An AST training officer readies the hatch supports while another Coast Guard member takes the weight of the watertight door.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202215
Richard Johnson
10 x 12 inches
An AST officer descends on a rope line.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202217
Tom Hedderich
Watercolor
14.5 x 10.5 inches
Westtown, N.Y.
A Coast Guard aviation survival technician, better known as a rescue swimmer, stationed at Air Station Kodiak, Alaska, holds Grace, a lost eight-month-old puppy he recused from a precipitous cliff in Black Point on Kodiak Island. The puppy, from a fishing vessel that had run aground, was missing for two days before she was spotted by the Coast Guard and returned to her owner.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202213
Don Hatcher
Acrylic
16 x 20 inches
Newport, Wash.
The Coast Guard’s Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT) from Virginia participates in a training exercise to maintain skills. The highly trained and specialized team practice tactical boardings-at-sea, active shooter scenarios, and detection of radiological material. MSRT is also a counter-terrorism unit, deployable at home and abroad.
Coast Guard Art Collection 202211