Night to Day, Here and Away

Rostrum and South Walkways

Hand cut glass and ceramic mosaic fabricated by Mosaika (Montreal, Canada); light-weight concrete fabricated by Red Linen Design (Sarasota, Florida)

The stage is a focal point for Patriot Plaza. The 50’ x 3’ mosaic on the front of the stage depicts an imaginary landscape of Earth, Air, and Water in which all five branches of the military carry out their work around the world.

The landscape goes from night to day to night over the span of 50 feet. This symbolizes the time differences that are a part of the lives of many military families. Families are waking up in one part of the United States while the family member serving in the military might be watching night fall at the same time in another part of the world. The map legends in the lower left of the design poetically address this aspect of time and distance in the lives of military families reading “Dark of Night----------------Break of Day” in one, and “Home----------------Far from Home” in another.

A horizon line of military ribbons that are awarded to all services runs the length of the mosaic. These include the Medal of Honor, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

Throughout the design, there are blue stars (the symbol for those who serve), gold stars (which represent those who die while in the service), and clusters of laurel leaves (which historically signify courage, valor, and achievement). The laurel leaves and stars are repeated on the ground plane as etched granite pavers.

Where the two paths intersect in the approach to the stage, mosaic covered spires, 20’ high and visible from a distance, introduce the visitor to the themes and the palette of the stage mosaic. These are situated on a 12’ x 12’ woven “carpet” made of mosaic in earth, air, and water colors. Two 20-foot-tall mosaic structures situated on woven mosaic "carpets" form visual markers at the paths which converge to the left and right of the stage. The mosaics repeat the main themes of the stage design with laurel wreaths, the horizon of service ribbons, and the fictional landscape of earth, air, and water. Blue and gold stars and arrows depicting the currents of wind complete this design, which is dark blue at the ground plane, becomes light in the middle, and is midnight blue at the top point of the spire.

In an environment where people are coming together to celebrate, commemorate, and mourn, the artwork interjects saturated color and the movement and scale of the human body (inflected by the painstaking craft of hand-set mosaics and elegant simple forms visible from a distance but providing quiet and sustained reflection up close).