Air Force Art Program displaying 200 new works at Bolling AFB

  • Published
  • By Air Force District of Washington
  • Public Affairs
The Air Force Art Program will display more than 200 new paintings from approximately 150 artists at the Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., Officers' Club Oct. 21-24. The art was created by artists from around the country and donated to the Air Force, bringing the total number of paintings in the Air Force collection to more than 9,400.

The exhibit at Bolling will feature paintings by artists who traveled to document the Air Force's mission throughout the world to include operations in Iraqi and Afghanistan.  These trips inspire the artists to come home and create paintings, which they then donate to the Air Force. 

"The art program does not require an artist to paint a single painting," said Russell D. Kirk, Air Force Art Program director. "However, most feel compelled to paint numerous paintings. Some even illustrate while they are observing the operations."

The USAF Art Program began in 1950, with the transfer of some 800 works of art documenting the early days of the Army Air Corps. In the early 1950s, the Air Force sponsored tours of its installations for cartoonists, artists and illustrators, successfully, creating the concept to record the Air Force story through the medium of art.

The USAF Art Program continues to function as it did 58 years ago, relying almost exclusively on unique and special relationships with commercial, professional artists through its affiliation with the Societies of Illustrators to produce and contribute works to the collection. The Pentagon is the largest showcase for the art, but paintings are spread around the globe at every Air Force base.