Courtesy Photo
Artist Ann Gildner works on the “Eagle has Landed” sculpture. The sculpture will be placed in front of the Alpena County Courthouse in honor of the US semiquincentennial.


ALPENA — Two new sculptures will be going up in downtown Alpena in honor of the US semiquincentennial.

One sculpture will be placed outside the Alpena County Courthouse and the other will be placed in front of City Hall.

Alpena County Administrator Jesse Osmer said that the Courthouse’s sculpture and base are a gift from the Thunder Bay Arts Council. The county paid a small chunk of money, between $5,000 to $6,000, to create a sidewalk to the sculpture and move a few benches. Osmer said that money was already budgeted by the County this year for the project.

The artist of the Courthouse’s sculpture is Ann Gildner, a local artist who also created the Great Blue Herons sculpture outside of Duck Park.

The new sculpture will be called “Eagle has Landed” and will be made of steel, stainless steel, brass, and rock.

The sculptures will be unveiled in June in time for the Fourth of July, Osmer said.

“The county is paying a small fee to have the sidewalk put into place at the same time,” Osmer said in an email. “We are recycling the benches we already had in the courthouse yard and moving them closer to the monument for public use. This was approved last year and budgeted for.”

City Hall’s sculpture will be called “In the Eye of the Beholder” made by artist Autumn Bildson, Thunder Bay Arts Council First Vice President Tim Kuehnlein said. The sculpture looks like an eagle or a thunderbird depending on one’s perspective. It is made of limestone.

Kuehnlein said these are the final two sculptures of the Art Vision Alpena project which began in 2017. The project resurrected the sculpture component of the bi-path. Both sculptures will be about six feet tall, he said.

The sculptures are being placed at the seats of local government as a reflection of our civic pride, Kuehnlein said.

The sculptures celebrate both the semiquincentennial and the 50th anniversary of the bi-path.

Bedrock contracting and excavating has begun work. The sculptures will be completely installed by June 17. There will be a dedication ceremony that day, Kuehnlein said.

Funding for the project came from various grants from government agencies and private foundations. Some funding also came from the Alpena Youth and Recreation Committee and individual patrons from the arts council.





Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox