Artist Statement: I volunteer as an artist in the Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP), immortalizing in paintings the bravery of the sentinels serving in our United States Coast Guard.
My images for this ECVA exhibition are a sampling of the 31 paintings I have donated to COGAP since I first joined in 1999. I am a visual historian, offering my art as a morale booster to those who serve and an insight for the public about the many missions of our Coast Guard.
I’ve always believed that the meaning of our life is to find our purpose. The COGAP program has defined a purpose for me. The art I’ve donated to the COGAP Collection is my legacy. It really has a strong emotional hold on me. When I joined COGAP, I did not have expectations of what would become of the art I would gift to the Collection. Rather, I was just thrilled to be accepted and have my art included. Emails I have received from those who serve thank me for capturing their memories and experiences, and for portraying the Coast Guard in a very positive and remarkable way. Art can be healing for those who create it and for those who are depicted through it.
Bio: Karen Loew is Chair of the Coast Guard Art Program (COGAP) Committee of the Salmagundi Club, COGAP's co-sponsor, and serves on the club's board of directors. The club is located at 47 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and is one of the oldest art clubs in the United States. She is frequently a speaker at COGAP events, most notably for the opening reception of the COGAP exhibition at the The Zeeuws Maritiem MuZEEum in Vlissingen, Holland in 2009. During COVID when many events were online only, Karen presented webinars about art in the COGAP Collection for the Mariners' Museum and Park, Newport News, VA and the Channel Islands Maritime Museum, Oxnard, CA.
In 2002, the Coast Guard sent the artist to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) to document activities of Coast Guard Port Security Unit 305. The artist received the Coast Guard Distinguished Public Service Award in 2011. This award is the highest recognition given to those who have made outstanding contributions in advancing the Coast Guard's missions. Another important honor received was the George Gray Award for "Harbor Rendezvous" included in the 2001/2002 Coast Guard Art Program Collection.
Her works have been featured in the book "American Women Artists in Wartime, 1776 to 2010" as well as The New York Times, Professional Artist, Palm Beach Times and The Log of the New York Council of the Navy League. Television appearances include CNN Tokyo affiliate TV Asahi, WABC TV "Eyewitness News New York," and Lifetime Television's "Our Home." Her work has been represented by galleries in New York and Florida and is held in private and public collections around the country.
Born in Wheeling, WV, the artist attended art school in Pittsburgh, PA, and today, resides in Upper Manhattan with her husband, suspense writer, Paul Backalenick.
kloew.com/coastg_art.html
www.uscg.mil/Community/Art-Program/
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