| New Eagle Carving Soaring Over Campus An eagle in flight is magnificent to behold. The proud birds with majestic wingspans soar gracefully through the air, captivating the attention of those on the ground lucky enough to witness the spectacle. AU’s newest eagle is only slightly less impressive than the real thing. A large oak carving of an eagle, standing more than six feet tall, was completed in late July by artist Rick Boni. Working in the parking lot behind Kay Spiritual Life Center over the course of two steamy summer days using an arsenal of more than 10 chainsaws weighing anywhere from eight to 20 pounds, Boni fashioned the trunk of an old oak tree into a sculpture of AU’s mascot. His craftsmanship was splendid, to say the least. Boni, whose studio is located in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, a small town in the Allegheny Mountains, has been making art by cutting wood with chainsaws for 17 years, but never before had he worked with such a wide base of oak. The stump, from a tree that used to stand on the quad in front of the Battelle-Tompkins Building, was roughly four by eight feet. Officials cut down most of the tree last September after a branch fell, leaving only the stump standing through the winter until it too was removed. It was the campus beautification team that first broached the idea of hiring an artist to carve it into an eagle, grounds operations coordinator Stephanie DeStefano said. 
The sculpture now is on display on the main quad, where it will remain until it is moved to a permanent home in the Woods-Brown Amphitheater, which also features several benches made from the old oak tree. —Mike Unger |
