Honoring sacrifice: AAHS art student creates flag inspired by veterans
Altoona Area sophomore Maggie Brouse created an American flag to honor the district’s fallen veterans. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
A poppy theme was part of the requirement for submissions to the Poppy Project. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Altoona Area High School art student Maggie Brouse, a sophomore, created an American flag out of 432 plastic army men, hot-glued together and painted in patriotic red, white and blue as part of the Poppy Project. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Altoona Area sophomore Maggie Brouse created an American flag to honor the district’s fallen veterans. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
A poppy theme was part of the requirement for submissions to the Poppy Project. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Altoona Area High School art student Maggie Brouse, a sophomore, created an American flag out of 432 plastic army men, hot-glued together and painted in patriotic red, white and blue as part of the Poppy Project. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
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When her Survey of Art teacher first mentioned the William N. Campbell Poppy Project -- a Saint Francis University initiative to honor local veterans -- Maggie Brouse got an idea.
Every day, the 10th grade student walks past Altoona Area's "Honoring the Fallen" memorial wall on her way to classes, so coupling that knowledge with the Poppy Project inspired her to create a flag honoring those fallen school district students.
The memorial wall features black plaques bearing the names of district students who lost their lives in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the War on Terror. It was installed in November 2022.
For her interpretation, Brouse created an American flag out of 432 plastic army men, hot-glued together and painted in patriotic red, white and blue.
Brouse's flag was on display in the Center for Fine Arts building on SFU's campus from Nov. 10-17, before returning to its current location in the Brouse home.
According to Brouse, the flag format was a "good way to represent the five wars."
Her flag took over two months to complete, she said, since the majority of the work was completed in class. The drying time of the hot glue was another limiting factor, she said.
The project has special significance to Brouse, since her grandfather, Tom Brouse, is a National Guard veteran, and her maternal grandfather, Lee Hite, served in the Coast Guard.
Her great-grandfather, George Lee Purdy, was a corporal armorer in the Army Air Corps stationed in southern England during World War II, and Robert Lawrence Hite was a lieutenant commander in the Navy in the pacific theater, according to Katherine Brouse.
"(Memorial Day) ... is an opportunity to honor the veterans," Maggie Brouse said.
According to Brouse, art teacher Eric Hoover was a key source of support and advice during the process.
"He motivated me to do it, he helped me figure it out with all the technicalities," Brouse said.
According to Hoover, "(Brouse's) project was pretty difficult ... it was a real pain in the butt." But through her consistent efforts, Brouse was able to successfully execute her vision in the end, Hoover said.
"She did a great job," he added.
This year, Hoover said he had about 30 students submit artwork across a variety of mediums to the project; last year he had a similar number of participants.
Projects included a bald eagle statue, an American flag made out of plastic poppies and an anatomically-correct ceramic heart with poppies spilling out. Brouse incorporated poppies into her flag in a row on the top edge, Hoover said.
According to Hoover, including poppies in some fashion was one of the only hard requirements for submissions, allowing students to get creative with their interpretations.
While the individual students' versions varied greatly, Hoover said they shared a similar message.
"It's a great way to pay homage to all the different soldiers who passed away from Altoona," Hoover said.
Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.