Giant magpie sculptures rise along trail at Alaska Botanical Garden

Updated: July 10, 2021 Published: July 9, 2021

People stop walking and turn around to look at "Night and Day," a new installation depicting magpies made from birch, alder and willow, created by Boston-based artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein at the Alaska Botanical Garden. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Alaska Botanical Garden’s newest installation features a pair of 22-foot-tall magpies created by Boston-based artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein.

The duo, known as The Myth Makers, used birch, alder and willow gathered locally by staff at the gardens to create “Night and Day.” The branches that make up the magpies are anchored to existing trees for support.

Visitors are encouraged to walk under the sculptures, which are along the Lowenfels-Hoersting Family Nature Trail just past the rock garden.

“I think it’s a new demographic for us,” said Patrick Ryan, education specialist at the botanical garden.

Ryan estimates the magpies will be on display for five years, or until the structures fall back into the woods.

Bena Lechner and Nancy Heckart walk under a sculpture of a magpie at the Alaska Botanical Garden on Thursday, July 8, 2021. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Two 22-foot sculptures depicting magpies, made with birch, alder and willow, were created at the Alaska Botanical Garden by Boston-based artists Donna Dodson and Andy Moerlein. The magpies are secured into the ground and wrapped around existing trees in the woods. They are expected to stay up for about five years or until they are no longer stable. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Branches used to make the tail of a magpie in the installation "Night and Day" are wrapped around an existing tree for stability along the edge of the woods at the Alaska Botanical Garden. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Erica Lash, left, Calvin Gardner, center, and Andrea Gardner, right, walk along a trail and look at "Night and Day", a new installation at the Alaska Botanical Garden. (Emily Mesner / ADN)

Emily Mesner

Emily Mesner is a multimedia journalist for the Anchorage Daily News. She previously worked for the National Park Service at Denali National Park and Preserve and the Western Arctic National Parklands in Kotzebue, at the Cordova Times and at the Jackson Citizen Patriot in Jackson, Michigan.