ALUMNI PROFILE
Fly Like An Eagle
By Timothy P. Cross

Soaring American Eagle, the sculpture by Greg Wyat '71, hangs from a helicopter (left) as it is lowered into the courtyard of the State Department building. At right, the eagle has landed. PHOTOS: COURTESY GREG WYATT STUDIO

It only flew once, and now this eagle is home to roost. On October 20, Soaring American Eagle, a monumental sculpture by Greg Wyatt '71, was formally unveiled at its permanent home, the north courtyard of the State Department's Harry S. Truman Building in Washington, D.C.

The massive bronze sculpture arrived in the capital in two pieces and was lowered into the courtyard by helicopter. Wyatt, who is sculptor-in-residence at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on Morningside Heights, says he was inspired by the Great Seal of the United States in sculpting the bird, which has a wingspan of more than 15 feet, rises more than 12 feet above its bronze pedestal, and weighs 11,600 pounds.

Soaring American Eagle is a millennium gift to the State Department from the Newington-Cropsey Foundation of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., which promotes knowledge of 19th-century artist Jasper F. Cropsey and makes other works of art available to the public. It was cast by upstate New York's Tallix Foundry, one of the world's largest foundries specializing in art casting.

Wyatt, whose art has been described as embodying the aesthetic of "spiritual realism," is the recipient of the U.S. Congress Citation Award and has been featured twice on CBS's Sunday Morning. In addition to the massive Peace Fountain at St. John the Divine, his sculptures include The Tempest and Hamlet for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon, England; a 12-foot bronze Victory Eagle for Hofstra University on Long Island; and a Bill of Rights Eagle and Tree of Learning for Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He is currently working on a lion sculpture that will be a gift to Columbia.