Poppy Sculpture
Photographer, Bryan Marden. The photo attached was taken at sunrise on the Maroubra headland
Come see this unique ANZAC art work
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On ANZAC Day, 25 April 2023, the Poppy Sculpture was received at the National ANZAC Centre in Albany WA. Housed in the entrance it is a focal point for visitors on their arrival.
The Poppy Sculpture was created between 2013 and ANZAC Day 2015 and it was presented at Sydney's Circular Quay's First Fleet Park, to mark the centenary of ANZAC. Each year (except 2020 and 2021) it was displayed on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day in this unique location until it found its new permanent home at the National ANZAC Centre.
The monumental sized steel sculpture is 1.5 metres in length and height and is understood to be the largest sculpture of its kind in the world.
Each person viewing the sculpture receives a free vial the contents of which hold the connection with the land where our ANZAC spirit was forged.
Each small vial contain sands from the shoreline at Albany authenticated as the last point where our soldiers left the Australian soil as they embarked on their troop ships to Gallipoli. Each vial also contains a pine needle from a pine tree whose direct ancestor was the original Lone Pine from the Gallipoli campaign.
The work is a collaborative effort from a consortium of dedicated professionals including the National ANZAC Centre, members from the Albany Historical Society WA, Yarralumla Nursery, Canberra, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, a team of artisans and sculptor Gary Grant.
About Gary
Gary Grant has been involved in a number of special public sculptures, some of which were: 'Tree of Life' sculpture for Prince of Wales Children’s Hospital, Ronald Macdonald House Randwick; 'Star of Remembrance' sculpture for Bear Cottage Children’s Hospice Manly; 'Reconciliation' sculpture involving NSW National Parks and Wildlife with the La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council, 9/11 Decade of Remembrance' in association with the New York Tribute Center. Gary Grant has been an active member on the Executive of the Sculptors Society for 15 years.