Coast Guard Art Program’s 2020 collection on view in New York City

In this work from the U.S. Coast Guard Art Program 2014 Collection, "Forever Vigilant," ID# 201425, this Coast Guard boat, a law enforcement Special Purpose Craft, is used for search and rescue, high-speed pursuit cases, and port and waterways coastal security. Here, the crew member aboard the Coast Guard escort boat is returning a wave to a passenger aboard a cruise ship as it leaves Miami. (U.S. Coast Guard Art Program 2014 Collection work by Chuck Van Horn)

In this work from the U.S. Coast Guard Art Program 2014 Collection, “Forever Vigilant,” ID# 201425, the crew member aboard the Coast Guard escort boat is returning a wave to a passenger aboard a cruise ship as it leaves Miami. (U.S. Coast Guard Art Program 2014 Collection work by Chuck Van Horn)

NEW YORK — Thirty-one works by 22 artists of the U.S. Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) will be on view at the Salmagundi Club from June 30 through August 7, 2020.

These works vividly bring to life the myriad missions performed by the U.S. Coast Guard. Subjects include dramatic search and rescues, daring patrols and illegal drug interdictions, among many others.

Four additional works by COGAP artist Robert Selmer also will be on display. The artist, a four-time recipient of the George Gray Award—the program’s best in show award—passed away earlier this year.

The Coast Guard Art Program 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 execute its 11 statutory missions such as search and rescue, defense readiness, protection of living marine resources and drug interdiction. 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 also displayed in offices of members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, senior government officials and other military services, as well as Coast Guard locations nationwide.

Coast Guard artists—a talented cadre of professional artists—donate their work to the program. Today, the collection comprises over 2,000 works showing the missions performed by the service’s force of some 43,300 active duty members.

This year marks the program’s 39th anniversary. Since its inception, the Salmagundi Club has been COGAP’s co-sponsor. The Salmagundi Club is located at 47 Fifth Avenue in New York City. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For exhibit hours, please check with the Salmagundi Club at www.salmagundi.org/.

To learn more about COGAP, visit www.uscg.mil/Community/Art-Program/.

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