Explore Marine Corps history through art!

In July of 2017, the National Museum of the Marine Corps' Combat Art Gallery opens to the public.  The gallery is part of the Museum's 117,000 squart foot "Final Phase," which will more than double the size of the Museum.

What is the purpose of the Combat Art Gallery?

The gallery will feature changing exhibitions of the Museum’s combat art collection or related collections on loan from others. It's a way for visitors to see Marine Corps history through art.

What is combat art?

The Marine Corps' Combat Art Program traces its origins to 1942.  Its mission:  Keep Americans informed about what “their Marines” are doing at home and overseas.  Managed today by the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the collection has grown to include more than 9,000 works of art created by 350 artists.

       “Go to war, do art.”
           Brigadier General Robert Denig, 1942

Brigadier General Denig's simple guidance at the launch of the combat art program still applies today.  Talented active duty Marines, Reservists, and civilian artists document Marine Corps life on the battlefront and while training for battle, during humanitarian missions, and on the home front.  The collection’s strength rests on the authentic and unvarnished focus these works have on the human condition under the most trying of circumstances.

Honor, courage, and commitment are the basic principles embraced by all Marines.  Along with a dose of gritty realism, those principles are reflected in the Corps' combat art collection.

1st Division CP, Moving Forward by Col H. Avery Chenoweth, USMCR

What will the first combat art exhibit cover?

The first exhibition in the gallery, Honor, Courage, Commitment: Marine Corps Art, 1975-2015, honors Marines who have served in the Corps during the last 40 years, which happens to be the same period of time for our Final Phase historical galleries that open in 2018.  It also echoes the core values of the Marine Corps:  honor, courage, and commitment.

The exhibit includes one hundred works of art by 22 artists divided among three themes--

    Every Clime and Place illustrates Marines as they conduct training and engage the enemy in a variety of settings and situations around the globe.

   No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy captures Marines meeting the enemy with unmatched ferocity and then rendering aid to civilians under the most dire of circumstances.

   The Price reminds us that war is all-consuming.  Marines willingly accept the risks associated with their missions, and families shoulder the burdens of uncertainty, loss, and grief.

The works in this show have been drawn, painted, or sculpted by individuals who are Marines first and artists second.  The artists range in rank from lance corporals to colonels.  All used their talents to visually tell the story of their fellow Marines, based in part on their own experiences and perspectives.  Many served as official combat artists.

We invite you to explore Marine Corps history through art by visiting the Combat Art Gallery at the Museum. Our inaugural exhibit will be on display from July 2017 to April 2018.  Entrance to the Museum and parking are FREE!

Find out more here: http://bit.ly/usmcart