One thing we’ve learned to appreciate over the past year is the nurturing need to nest. Not just the act of staying safe and healthy at home with our immediate family, pets, and stuffed animals, but curling up in an actual comfy nest-like hideaway. The big, overstuffed chair in the bedroom, the new reading nook we made by the window, the good ole’ bathtub.
Now it’s safe to venture outside again, but we still need our nests! Perhaps a treehouse will do or at least a hammock. We’ve grown fond of snuggly places to work or daydream in.
In Adams County, Colorado, folks can just head over to one of their neighborhood libraries and curl up in a giant outdoor nest to enjoy a book or just gaze up at the sky.
World famous environmental artist, musician, and self-avowed dreamer Jayson Fann was commissioned to construct his fantastical, large-scale “spirit nests” as permanent installations for six of the Anythink Library’s neighborhood branches. He fashions his people-friendly nests from natural materials, weaving fallen and found tree branches, roots, and lichens into organic shapes, then fastens them securely into the nest-like installations.
Fann has been building outdoor nests and forts since he was 9 years old. He has created over fifty spirit nests across the U.S. and in countries around the world.
Each nest creation is a unique, interactive artwork meant to evoke a sense of wonder and environmental awareness, including a connection to the spirit of the land and the native heritage of the places where they are placed.
Some of the spirit nests he’s creating for the Anythink libraries are 16-feet high.
The spirit nests will become centerpieces for the library system’s mySummer summer reading program. Outdoor events will include indigenous storytelling, drumming and dance workshops. Jayson Fann himself will also be on hand to talk about his creative process and the intersection of art and nature.
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Learn more about Jayson Fann in this Great Big Story video:
Photos: Anythink Libraries/Suzanne McGowan