2018 Coast Guard Art Program

About the Coast Guard Art Program

The Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) makes use of fine art to educate 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 11 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 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 of art. While pieces received earlier tended to portray Coast Guard assets and history, more recent works capture the experience of actual service in the Coast Guard. COGAP’s talented corps of volunteer artists—most of whom are professional artists—brings to life the missions performed daily by the over 42,000 active-duty men and women of the service, as well as reservists and Auxiliary members.

The 2018 collection is comprised of 28 works by 23 artists, making this one of the service’s larger collections in recent years. Highlighted are the service’s response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey and another such daring rescue. Other missions portrayed are illegal drug interdictions and Arctic exploration. Ice rescues, aid to endangered species, motor lifeboats pounding treacherous waters, life aboard the cutter Healy and securing the maritime domain are also depicted. One painting of 2018 also honors a service member and her family by commemorating her promotion.

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