“To me, nests are a symbol of rejuvenation, and we want what we’re doing to be that symbol for Tuscaloosa,” said Emma Fick, a junior and one of the people behind The Nest.

The Nest will be a large piece of art made up of branches and debris from the tornado found by University of Alabama students in cooperation with the Tuscaloosa Area Volunteer Reception Center. Working with UA graduate student and visual artist Kelly Shannon, Creative Campus has already built much of the nest, but it is not finished yet.

Creative Campus wanted others to get involved, and Naomi Thompson, a junior and collaborator on The Nest, could think of no better group to work on the piece than children around the area. So, they went to local schools like Tuscaloosa Magnet, Cottondale Elementary and Holt Elementary to let students paint branches and make their own piece of the nest.

“I wanted the children involved in the rejuvenation,” Thompson said. “After all, they are really the people we are building back for.”

The Nest will be unveiled Saturday in a ceremony beginning at 1 p.m. and lasting until 3 at Rosedale Park. It will feature a reading about the tornado by UA faculty member Patti White and a performance by trumpeter Brice Miller.

People will be encouraged to decorate their own branch and weave it into the nest. Also, branches that students from the area painted will be added. The Nest, which is currently more than five feet tall, is planned to grow to nearly seven feet after the public’s branches are added.

Fick said that none of this could have been accomplished without Creative Campus.

“[Creative Campus] is an idea machine,” Fick said. “They provide artists with the resources to make things work.”

Both Thompson and Fick have been working with Creative Campus for over a year and say that it has been a rewarding experience, as has their work on The Nest.

“Tuscaloosa will eventually get back to normal,” Fick said. “This is something to remind us until we do.”