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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – If you are planning to go to Scissortail Park in the near future, you will likely notice a new addition.

A massive bird-shaped woven willow stick structure is taking form just west of the Children’s Play Pavilion and the lake.

The Unexpected Us is a collaboration with Oklahoma City artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman, who are installing the sculpture as part of the Oklahoma Contemporary’s grand opening celebration on March 13.

“Much like a child’s fort or treehouse, this structure is crude, playing on the importance of imagination, the purity of childhood and the belief in magic,” the artists said in a statement about their work. “The structure embodies the contrast of the immensely complicated web of life encircling and framed around the golden glow of our own ever hopeful hearts.”

The Unexpected Us will stand 14 feet tall and 22 feet wide, and a lighted orb that is lit every evening will hang from the interior of the sculpture.

“The right public art piece in the right place at Scissortail Park adds so much to our visitor’s experience. They will be surprised and enchanted to come upon this whimsical piece. Placing it in one of our lens gardens, makes it look like a nest around the bird – further making it something out of a storybook. Denise and Gabriel have created the perfect nature-based piece for our park – and our park’s namesake,” said Maureen Heffernan, CEO of Scissortail Park Foundation. “We are so appreciative that the Kirkpatrick Family fund choose the Park as one of it grant recipients and congratulate Oklahoma Contemporary on their stunning addition to the arts and cultural landscape of downtown Oklahoma City.”

The Kirkpatrick Family Fund provided a series of grants for Oklahoma City arts and cultural organizations collaborating with Oklahoma Contemporary to make the exhibit possible.

Duong and Friedman will be on hand for a public unveiling of their work with a free reception that is open to the public on Sunday, March 15 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the park. 

The Unexpected Us will remain on display through August.