Anyone who ascends to the rooftop of the George Washington University Hillel building will now see red anemones — Israel’s national flower — in bloom.
Rather than plant the flowers, 15 students crafted and hand-painted each bold red petal out of clay, which were installed April 21 for Yom Hazikaron.
“These have become a symbol of remembrance … as it relates to what happened on Oct. 7,” said Sara Evangelista, GW Hillel’s assistant director.
After removing the hostage posters from the windows of its building, the GW Hillel community wanted to display something similarly meaningful.
“As all of the hostages were being returned home, [our thoughts] started to shift into ‘Who are we?’ ‘What are we doing?’ ‘What’s the message in our window?’” Evangelista recalled.
She and the community began brainstorming permanent memorials and tributes to the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, looking to Jewish institutions across the world.
Nil Nachtailer, GW Hillel’s Israel community coordinator, raised the idea of the ceramic flowers after seeing the impact of the installation “Anemones Before the Rain” in Israel — a waterfall and carpet of nearly 5,000 handcrafted clay anemones made by volunteers from across Israel. The red anemone represents hope and connection to the land because it blooms every spring, even in wartime.
“[Since then, more than 100,000] ceramic flowers were installed in major cities and landmarks, and at the Nova festival site, where they became a powerful symbol of remembrance, resilience and public unity,” Nachtailer said. “I wanted to create something meaningful that could live on our campus as well.”
Nachtailer said he and the 15 participating students worked on the memorial project with Yonina, a well-known artist in the local Israeli community, who “generously donated her time, opened her studio to the students and guided us throughout the creative project.”
The group also received guidance and instructions from the original artist of “Anemones Before the Rain.”
“It was inspiring to see GW students become deeply involved in a hands-on memorial project,” Nachtailer said. “Students who normally spend their days in class or working on the Hill came together to create something meaningful as a community.”
One of the challenges of the process was coordinating the students’ schedules. “But that also made the experience special — every participant chose to dedicate personal time and effort to the project,” Nachtailer said.
He described the creative process as collaborative, reflective and “very moving.”
The project was made more meaningful as many Jewish students grappled with a range of difficult emotions during the Israel-Hamas war, according to Nachtailer.
“Working on this project gave them a way to feel more connected — like they were part of Israel even from a distance, carrying the pain, pride and memory together through something they created with their own hands,” he said.
As the community brainstormed ideas for a permanent memorial of the lives lost on Oct. 7, Nachtailer said flowers struck him as a nonpolitical, universal symbol of beauty and remembrance.
“My hope is that people will first notice the flowers, feel drawn to them and then read the plaque and understand their deeper meaning,” he said. “Ideally, the installation invites reflection, honors the victims and reminds our community that healing and renewal are still possible.”
Evangelista similarly emphasized that the art display isn’t an “in-your-face” commentary on Israel or the war in Gaza.
“I hope that when you look at it … there is something more contemplative and reflective about Jewish lives lost that’s outside of this noise, of the Israel conversation, of what’s happening on campus,” she said. “Innocent lives are innocent lives, and this can be a reflective space and memorial. This art doesn’t look like a giant Israeli flag.”
Instead, the memorial is about unity and remembrance. These are themes personal to the Israeli-born Nachtailer, who lost friends to the Oct. 7 attack on the Nova festival. He hasn’t been able to visit the Nova festival site, which has since been transformed into a memorial, for that reason.
“After this project, I feel something has shifted in me,” he said. “On my next trip to Israel, I plan to go to the Nova site and bring one of the flowers we made here as a way to close that circle.”
Evangelista spoke to the symbolism of the campus memorial.
“I think a flower is a really beautiful way to symbolize that [Oct. 7] didn’t end the Jewish community,” she said. “There’s still life, there’s still joy, there’s still beauty.”
“I hope [the participating students] feel proud seeing the flowers now displayed as a permanent exhibit in the building, knowing they were part of building something meaningful that will stay on campus,” Nachtailer said.
