Coast Guard Art Program

2022 Collection

Presented by the United States Coast Guard and the Salmagundi Club

2021 George Gray Award Recipient 

Inaugural Exhibition: July 5—July 15, 2022

Salmagundi Club, New York City

Fast rope insertion: demonstrated

by Frank Gaffney

Oil 
Commandant (CG-0923)

U.S. Coast Guard

2703 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.

STOP 7103

Washington, D.C. 20593-7103

(202) 372-4643

MaryAnn.Bader@uscg.mil

The U.S. Coast Guard and its art program thank the New York Council of the Navy League of the 

United States for the invaluable support and interest it has provided for years. The Service is indebted to the League and honored by its assistance.

Cover:

Fast rope insertion: demonstrated

Frank Gaffney

2021 George Gray Award Recipient for Artistic Excellence

Oil

16 x 20 inches

Mountlake Terrace, Wash.

A service member from the Coast Guard Maritime Security Response Team (MSRT)-West in San Diego 

executes a fast rope insertion from a Coast Guard helicopter down to the deck of the Cutter Steadfast. 

MSRT-West service members undergo advanced training and are proficient in specialized techniques 

to operate alongside federal, state and local partners and protect the nation from threats at sea and in 

air.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202106

About the Artist

Frank Gaffney has had an interest in art all his life. He grew up in Northern Idaho. After high school, he 

studied advertising and design at the Cornish School of Allied Arts in Seattle, Wash. He also took courses at the University of Washington in Seattle in portraiture, sculpture and graphic design, and studied 

portraiture at the Scottsdale Artist's School in Arizona. The artist had his first solo exhibition shortly 

after graduating from Cornish, and then began working in the graphic arts field as a corporate designer and illustrator. During this period, he painted numerous portraits and other fine art commissions 

and operated a gallery and studio part time with a fellow artist. Gaffney is a signature member and 

past president of the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters, a signature member of the American 

Society of Marine Artists and a member of the Oil Painters of America. The artist became a COGAP 

member in 2009. Since then, he has contributed every year without fail to the collection. Today his 

contributions total 14 works of art. His work has been juried into shows and galleries nationally. He is 

the recipient of numerous awards. The Coast Guard sent the artist on deployment to Alaska in 2009 to 

view Operation Arctic Crossroads and in 2012, to the Cutter Kukui in Hawaii, to capture protection of 

the marine environment.
Coast Guard Art Program

2022 Reception and Acceptance Ceremony

July 7, 2022

Salmagundi Club, New York City

6:30 p.m.

Viewing of Art and Reception

Music by Musician Chief Megan Sesma, harp

And Musician First Class Meera Gudipati, flute

U.S. Coast Guard Band

7:15 p.m.

Opening Remarks

Nick Dawes, Salmagundi Club Chairman of the Board

Emcee Captain Zeita Merchant, Commander, Sector New York

U.S. Coast Guard

Presentation of Colors and Pledge of Allegiance*

Invocation*

Lieutenant Keith Connor

U.S. Coast Guard, Sector New York Chaplain

Introduction of Guests

Captain Zeita Merchant

Comments

Frank Russo, Captain, USN (Ret.)

President, New York Council of the Navy League 

Comments

Karen Loew

COGAP Committee Chair, Salmagundi Club

Presentation of Art to U.S. Coast Guard

Nick Dawes

Acceptance of Art by U.S. Coast Guard

Rear Admiral Megan Dean

U.S. Coast Guard

Presentation of Public Service Awards and

George Gray Award for Artistic Excellence

Closing Remarks

Captain Merchant

Benediction*

Chaplain Connor

*Guests Please Stand
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. 

About the Salmagundi Club, COGAP’s partner organization

Since its inception in 1981, the Salmagundi Club has been a sponsor of the Coast Guard Art 

Program. In the course of its 151-year history, it has served as a center for artists from New 

York and around the country and today has a membership of over 1,000 artists and patrons. It 

offers exhibitions of paintings, sculpture and photography; conducts art classes and painting 

demonstrations and holds auctions of member artists’ work throughout the year. It has a collection of over 1,500 works of art spanning its century and a half history. 

Originally formed as the New York Sketch Club in 1871, the club adopted its present name 

over 100 years ago from Washington Irving’s Salmagundi Papers, a satirical and urbane periodical he co-authored.

Through the years, the club has been the gathering place for important artists such as Childe 

Hassam, William Merritt Chase, Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, Charles Dana Gibson, Ogden Pleissner and many others. Honorary members have included Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminster 

Fuller, Paul Cadmus, Al Hirschfeld, Thomas Hoving and Schuyler Chapin.

The Salmagundi Club is located in a historic brownstone at 47 Fifth Avenue, between 11th and 

12th Streets. To learn more about the club, please visit its website at www.salmagundi.org.

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The George Gray Award

Named for the co-founder of the Coast Guard Art Program, the George 

Gray Award each year recognizes one Coast Guard artist for outstanding 

artistic achievement. George Gray worked as an artist for more than 

seven decades. A muralist and illustrator, he specialized in historical 

and military themes. Love of country compelled him to enlist in the 

Coast Guard during World War II. During the Vietnam War, he spent six 

weeks sketching Marines in action for the U.S. Navy’s fine arts program. 

He co-founded COGAP in the early 1980s and served as its chairman and 

champion for over 20 years. Born in Harrisburg, Penn., in 1907, he is a 

direct descendent of Capt. Robert Gray, who, in 1788, became the first 

American to carry the nation’s flag around the world. He died in 2004 at 

the age of 96.

George Gray

by James Dyekman

Jurors for the George Gray Award

Rear Admiral Megan Dean is Coast Guard Director of Governmental and Public Affairs and responsible 

for external engagement with Congress, the media and other inter-governmental entities. Prior, she 

was the Chief of Staff of Coast Guard District 13, headquartered in Seattle. Earlier, she served as Commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami, following completion of a National Security Fellowship at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Previously she served as the Deputy Sector 

Commander at Sector Baltimore, overseeing operations in Maryland and the National Capital Region. 

Prior to this, she was Military Aide to the Secretary of Homeland Security and also served at Headquarters in the Office of Performance Management and Assessment. Her additional assignments include a 

tour as Aide to the Commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area in Portsmouth, Va., and in District 7, as a 

law enforcement and as a duty officer. She served aboard four cutters including one tour as commanding officer. A 1993 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy where she obtained a bachelor’s in government, she also holds a master’s in Public Administration from The George Washington University. She 

is a designated Coast Guard Cutterman. Her many awards include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Coast Guard Commendation Medal and Coast Guard Achievement Medal.

Antonio Masi is president of the American Watercolor Society. The Italian born painter immigrated to 

the New York City when he was seven years old and quickly developed a lifelong love of bridges. He is 

a graduate of the School of Visual Arts where he received a full scholarship and holds a bachelor’s in art 

history from CUNY (City University of New York). In 1962, he began what was to be a four-decade career as a commercial artist and graphic designer. In 1966 he also began teaching art. After selling his 

graphic arts business in 2000, he devoted himself to painting full time. For almost ten years, he focused his talent on painting bridges, completing more than 100 paintings on these structures. The artist 

developed a novel technique for applying watercolor to better convey the beauty, power and delicacy 

of bridges. Winner of numerous awards, his work has been exhibited in galleries, museums and in 

many solo exhibitions across the country. His art has been featured in publications, as the subject of 

many television programs and is held in public and private collections around the country. 

Robert Pillsbury is a gifted artist and printmaker who works in many mediums. He received his bachelor’s in fine arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. His art has been in numerous shows and solo exhibitions in the US and internationally and is held in private and public collections. The artist was Salmagundi Club president for six years and earlier, served for six years as the 

club's first vice president. About his art he states: “My work reflects an ongoing process of seeing and 

focusing on the relationship between conscious and unconscious observations of the environment. The 

use of color and field are deeply rooted in those found in nature, as well as icons drawn from the landscape. Many of the works have origins in reality, but possess the feeling of ethereal abstraction, fading 

in and out of the subject matter through the use of line and color changes.” 

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Evacuation into the sea

Kristin Hosbein

Oil

24 x 12 inches

St. Joseph, Mich.

Coast Guard officers aboard the Cutter SWORDFISH assist nonCoast 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

Keeping watch

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

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On mission

In 2021, COGAP artists Kristin Hosbein and Karen Loew went on a 

five-day trip to Kodiak, Alaska, and Seattle, Wash. The goal as 

they travelled with executives from the homeland and maritime industries was to learn more about the Service and homeland security. Not only did they learn but also both later created 

and contributed these artworks to the Coast Guard.
The night is ours

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

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The following six pencil sketches by Mt. Airy, Md., resident and artist Richard Johnson are from his deployment 

with the Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team (AST) during confined space entry training aboard the USS Nashville in 

the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

COGAP artists Ken Smith and Richard Johnson, selected by the Coast Guard for artist deployments, created 

these works based on their visits to units.

Hold that for a second will you?

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

Waiting to descend

10 x 6 inches

The AST officer gets ready to descend 

the rope.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202216
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Safety lines 

10 x 6 inches

A boatswain’s mate monitors the safety 

lines.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202219

The notetaker

10 x 6 inches

A Coast Guard service member 

takes notes during a briefing. 

Coast Guard Art Collection 202220

Hangin’ out

10 x 12 inches

An AST officer descends on a rope line.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202217

On the ropes

10 x 10 inches

A service member checks ropes.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202218
Helicopter landing

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

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Semper Paratus

Delivery for Akhiok 

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
Ice Patrol buoy drop

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

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Exercise on deck

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
Buoy 34

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

Wrapping it up

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

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Aids to navigation

Stemming the flow
The ice is coming 

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

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Keep your eyes on the ball 

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
Polar dive inspection

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

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Safety first

Safety hazards

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
Ice training off the Cutter HEALY

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

Special delivery hoist training

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

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Training to meet challenges
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

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Protecting the marine environment and living marine resource

Maritime security team in training

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

The observer

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 
Oil spill inspection

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

California oil spill response

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

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Debris cleanup in Hawaii

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

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Oil sampling from sunken tanker

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
Answering the coldest call

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

Kodiak rescue (right)

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

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Coast Guard to the rescue: lives saved in a hurry

The helicopter rescue hook

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 hurricaneforce winds, rotor wash, and turbulent seas during rescues.

Coast Guard Art Collection 202203
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

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Cliffside rescue in Oregon 

Jim Richards

Oil

12 x 16 inches

Salem, Ore.

An aviation survival technician—better known 

as a rescue swimmer—is lowered from an MH60 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

Suiting up for a rescue

Elizabeth R. Whelan

Oil

18 x 24 inches

Edgartown, Mass.
A Lucky rescue

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

Compassion

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 

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Coast Guard to the rescue: Canine lives saved too

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
Vertical delivery with canine

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

Coast Guard working dogs: Canines in action

Saving Grace

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 eightmonth-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

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The Colors

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

The Colors

Working dog

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

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