Besser Museum eagle

Alpena, Michigan, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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The Eagle is a welded steel, stainless steel, copper and brass sculpture by artist Tom Moran on the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan campus in Alpena. Built in 2000 and installed in 2009, it measures 12 by 12 by 16 feet, according to The Alpena News.

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Besser Museum eagle

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Site-level location · 45.0807° N, 83.4484° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The Alpena News puts the eagle outside the Besser Museum at more than 6,000 pounds and roughly 1,000 hours of work. Designed by Tom Moran, The Eagle was constructed in 2000 and installed on the museum campus in 2009, according to the newspaper in June 2026. It is built from welded steel tube, steel plate, stainless steel, copper and brass, and carries more than 1,500 individually hand-sanded feathers. The Alpena News gives its size as 12 feet high, 12 feet wide and 16 feet long.

Roadside America, a hobbyist directory, lists the piece as a bald eagle head 14 feet high on the museum's front lawn; the newspaper's figures are the only ones that come with a weight and full dimensions.

The eagle is one of the sculptures on the Alpena Bi-Path. According to a booklet from the Thunder Bay Arts Council, quoted by The Alpena News in 2021, the Bi-Path was created in 1974 to mark the bicentennial of the United States, with the idea of running a path from the college and museum campus down to the harbour and populating it with sculptures. The Alpena News marked the Bi-Path's 50th anniversary in June 2026, and described The Eagle as one of the most recognisable public art installations along the Bi-Path.

It stands on the museum campus; check the museum before visiting if you want to go inside.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A large eagle sculpture of steel, stainless steel, copper and brass on the museum campus, one of the Alpena Bi-Path sculptures. The museum itself has its own hours and admission, so check with it before planning an indoor visit.

ACCESS

On the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan campus, Johnson Street, Alpena. The museum's own opening times apply to the building.

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Paul Bunyan metal sculpture Alpena Community College

Alpena, Michigan

'Kaiser Paul' is a 30-foot lumberjack statue on the Alpena Community College campus, built in the 1960s by artist Betty Conn of Birmingham, Michigan, from recycled Kaiser automobile parts for a Gaylord gas station and brought to Alpena in 1999.

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