As people walk around the mosaic, their reflection will show in the four different colors of mankind. When they look up from their reflection, they can peek into a nest and see a mother eagle taking care of her eaglets.

These are only some of the features of the sculpture the United Tribes Technical College students in the art and marketing department are constructing. The new sculpture will be placed in Sertoma Park in front of Dakota Zoo and is the second of six statutes UTTC and the Bismarck Parks and Recreation Department are creating.

The round mosaic is 20 feet in diameter and will have four columns of various heights with nests on top of them. In each nest there will be an eagle either in full flight, taking off, landing, or a mother and her babies. The eagles are being built to their actual size.

"One thing that comes to mind when a sculpture is done out of proportion is that it imposes on the environment around it because of its size," said Steven White Mountain, a student. "When eagles are out of proportion I think of pterodactyls. People can look at these eagles and know what a real eagle looks like and see their actual size."

The students also are working with zoo officials to create informational stands that explain the importance of eagles to the American Indian culture and include scientific facts.

The sculpture doesn't have a name yet, but is a consolidation of the art and marketing students' proposals and designs. White Mountain came up with the idea to bring all of the ideas together.

"All of the students are excellent artists, and I didn't feel that choosing one of them would give credit where credit is due," he said.

He also is the foreman of the columns the nests will be on and the sidewalk around the mosaic, which will be made out of 1-inch ceramic tiles.

It was his idea to create a sidewalk in red, white, black and yellow to represent the different races of people.

Wayne Pruse, director of the art and marketing department, hopes to begin work on the mosaic in August. The targeted finish date for the sculpture is in September.

The students are working on welding the frame together for the nests and eagles. The sculpture will be made out of sheet metal, epoxy, wood, Styrofoam, dryer hose tubing and other materials. The students' budget is $30,000, provided by Bismarck Parks and Recreation.

The first sculpture of the series produced by UTTC students is located in Keelboat Park and is in the form of a 14-foot-tall thunderbird, made of Styrofoam-like material. Over the next four years, four more sculptures will be made and placed along pathways in Bismarck.

(Reach Kayla Cogdill at 250-8251 or kaylacogdil-l@bismarcktribune.net.)