Eagle is home in Seattle's new sculpture park

It is said that the setting in which a sculpture resides is as important as the sculpture itself. Newly placed in the most dramatic of settings as if ready to take flight over the Puget Sound is Eagle, the piece d'resistance in Seattle's wonderful new Olympic Sculpture Park, which opened in January.

In the new park, Eagle has finally landed in a place where its majesty can be fully appreciated. Perched on a bluff overlooking the vast blue water and snow-capped Olympic mountains, Eagle is home. Previously, the sculpture lived in Volunteer Park outside of the Seattle Asian Art Museum—prior to that, in Fort Worth, Texas. Both locations were widely considered inappropriate settings for the piece.

Eagle's maker, Alexander Calder (July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976), was a third-generation sculptor with a background in mechanical engineering as well as art. Calder created Eagle later in his career, after he was already considered one of the world’s most important sculptors.

Eagle is 38 feet nine inches by 32 feet six inches by 32 feet six inches. It's painted entirely in a dramatic shade of orange-red, meant to convey velocity and energy. From four grounded "legs" the piece rises and curves to form shapes reminiscent of wings and a beak. Eagle gives the feeling of an object firmly grounded and quite stable, yet soaring without ever leaving the ground. Every curve and swoop is meaningful and dramatic, giving Eagle the feeling of light, flowing weightlessness.

It's just one of the pieces of art found in the new sculpture park located along the waterfront just north of downtown. And really, the Olympic Sculpture Park is a piece of art in itself. Don't miss it.