Eagle has landed in Wheatbelt art display with hopes it is here to stay

Jordan Sprigg’s wedge-tailed eagle sculpture has swooped into Williams, providing a spectacular display for residents and tourists. The Shire of Williams is calling for public feedback on the sculpture as it considers making it a permanent installation, but for now, the eagle is situated outside the Williams Woolshed on Albany Highway. Wheatbelt artist Jordan Sprigg uses recycled metals found from retired machinery, scrap heaps and clearance sales. The Narembeen man approached the Shire to see if it was interested in displaying the eagle temporarily before potentially buying it. Shire chief executive Geoff McKeown said it was installed last week and would remain in place for several months. “We are getting lots of positive feedback from the community,” he said. “We had an email within minutes of installation from someone that was passing through saying thanks for public art in the town and what a great initiative, which was nice to hear. “There is no decision from council at this stage as to whether it would like to acquire the piece and keep it permanently.” Mr McKeown said the sculpture gave an insight to future townscape developments. “With the recent upgrade to the highway there was quite a bit of disruption in the town while the roadworks were happening and the town looked a bit like a construction site,” he said. “Now it’s all finished, it’s nice to look at how we might beautify that area of the town,” he said. The eagle has a 3.1m wingspan and is constructed from retired tools, machine tools and farm scrap. Sprigg said he hoped the eagle had found a home in the Wheatbelt town. “Public art gives a reason for people to stop, get out of the car, stretch your legs and hopefully support regional towns,” he said. “Coming from a country town myself, I know how hard it is to get tourists to your town, it gets people to look outside what they’re used to in the city and enjoy local art.” Sprigg has gained quite a public following on social media with more than 64,000 followers on Instagram and 21,000 on Facebook. “I didn’t expect (my work) to take off. I just put photos up on my personal page and it kind of went berserk on me,” he said. “I took a gap year at uni in 2014 and I haven’t been able to stop really — I keep getting orders. I’m very lucky to live in a place like Australia where you can have a career as an artist, and without social media I don’t think I’d have the job I have today.”