On a windy Saturday, in a park whose swing sets and basketball goals were decimated by an EF4 tornado, UA students and professors gathered as Creative Campus unveiled their newest project that they hope will bring back hope to the area. They call it “The Nest.” The Nest is a six-foot structure made up of branches torn from trees during the tornado of April 27 that sits at Rosedale Park, an area near public housing development Rosedale Court, which was nearly completely destroyed by storms. The idea for The Nest came in August from juniors Emma Fick and Naomi Thompson, and Fick said she couldn’t be more pleased with how it has turned out. “It’s surreal,” Fick said. “Seeing other people interacting with it is powerful.” People were encouraged to paint branches and weave them into the nest, thus making it what Fick called “true public art.” But it wasn’t all done in a day. Construction of The Nest began in Rosedale Park on Feb. 10, but before that, Fick and Thompson took buckets of branches to Tuscaloosa Magnet School, Cottondale Elementary and Holt Elementary to let children paint their own branch to be weaved into the nest. “We asked the children, ‘What does a nest make you think of?’” Thompson said in her remarks to open the ceremony. “And we got answers like ‘home’ and ‘survival.’” The day also featured UA English professor and Slash Pine Press director Patti White reading excerpts from her 22-page essay, “The Sound,” about her experiences before, during and after the tornado. “[The Nest] is a brilliantly conceived project,” said White. “It is a structure that allows the wind to pass through it, but [it] remains, much like Tuscaloosa.” The day also featured trumpeter Brice Miller playing as some people painted branches to add to the structure, and others stood and listened quietly. Alexis Clark, the coordinator of Creative Campus, said The Nest was a really fresh idea and is Creative Campus’ first public art installation. “We worked closely with the Tuscaloosa Parks and Recreation Authority,” Clark said. “Rosedale was not getting a lot of attention.” The day also included another Creative Campus project called “The Hope Tree.” On it, people tied notes that contained their wishes for Tuscaloosa’s future. The tree, which is another piece of debris, will be moved from Rosedale Park and placed in Maxwell Hall where Creative Campus’ offices are located. Although no one is sure how long The Nest will stand before being washed away, Fick said she hopes to get schools to hold field trips in which the children will be able to continue painting the nest.