A REMEMBRANCE IN RED
This Veterans Day, Upper School artists honor those who served with a field of hand-crafted ceramic poppies
For Mount Pisgah Christian School junior Zara Banks, Veterans Day is personal. Both of her grandfathers are veterans, and that family connection has made remembrance, in her words, “more than simply a historical concept.” It is a reminder that behind every uniform, every sacrifice, and every story of service is a person, a family, and a lifetime of memories.
This fall, Zara and her classmates in our Upper School art class found a meaningful way to express that truth: by hand-crafting a field of ceramic poppies to honor those who have served our country.
Inspired by a Sea of Red
The project drew its inspiration from “Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red,” the 2014 installation at the Tower of London created by ceramic artist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper. Marking 100 years since the start of the First World War, the installation filled the Tower’s moat with 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British and colonial military life lost during the war.
As our students shaped their own poppies, they paid close attention to every detail: the color, the shape, and even the individual petals.
Why the Petals Are Smooth
One detail became especially meaningful to Zara: the texture. You might expect a flower that represents war to look broken, rough, or imperfect, reflecting the destruction and hardship experienced by those who served. Instead, the students chose to make their poppies smooth.
“The smoothness does not erase the hardships of the past,” Zara explained. “It does not suggest that the pain, sacrifice, or loss never happened. Instead, it represents that remembrance can bring peace, healing, and the passage of time.”
Much like a battlefield that eventually gives way to new life, these flowers remind us that even after the darkest chapters of history, there is still room for hope.
Why We Remember
Veterans Day began as Armistice Day, marking the moment World War I fighting ended at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. In 1954, it was renamed to honor American veterans of all wars, and today it celebrates everyone who has served, living and deceased. The red poppy, which bloomed across the battlefields of that first war, became its enduring symbol, thanks in large part to Georgia’s own Moina Michael, known as “The Poppy Lady.”
Our students’ poppies carry that tradition forward. They are on display along the Veterans Memorial Walk at Newtown Park, and we warmly invite our community to visit and reflect. As Zara encouraged, the most meaningful thing we can do this Veterans Day is take the time to speak with those who have served and hear their stories firsthand. To every veteran in the MPCS family and beyond: thank you.