May 01, 2008 09:57 pm
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By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
A sculpture that graced Joplin’s City Hall for 40 years will have a new roost at the Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center in Wildcat Park.
“Bald Eagle,” a steel sculpture by the late Nancy Kissel Clark, will be unveiled today atop a new perch that was commissioned for its move to the nature center.
Members of Clark’s family will attend the unveiling, which is open to the public, at 4:30 p.m. today at the nature center.
“We are thrilled” to have the sculpture, said Robin McAlester, the center’s director. “We are certainly thankful to the (Clark) family and the city of Joplin to allow the sculpture to come to the center. It is certainly fitting. We have bald eagles right there in Wildcat Park. We think this will be a wonderful addition to the wildlife viewing area.”
A perch for the metal sculpture has been made by Justin Hale, an artist who was a student of Clark’s.
The unveiling is one of the activities being held as part of the center’s first bird festival, Feathers in Flight Birdfest.
Events will start with a reception at 5 p.m. today. The festival runs through Sunday, with field trips planned to various locations in Southwest Missouri, including Roaring River and Prairie State Park, for bird-watching.
Seminars, including presentations by the Missouri Department of Conservation and former Globe photographer Noppadol Paothong, also are planned. Booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the center for wildlife arts, specialty birding groups and other Audubon chapters.
A program with live eagles will accompany the unveiling of the sculpture.
Birdfest 2008
More information about the Audubon center’s Feathers in Flight Birdfest 2008 may be found at www.wildcatglades.audubon.org.
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