Columbus Museum of Art expands annual Lego exhibit to explore new worlds

Wendy Wang
Fri, 17 Nov 2023 02:45:10 +0000
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The Columbus Museum of Art will open the 2023 iteration of its annual exhibit “Think Outside the Brick: The Creative Art of Lego” Saturday.
Credit: Wendy Wang | Lantern Reporter

Brick by brick, Legos can help people of all ages unlock their innate creativity.

The Columbus Museum of Art — also known as CMA — will bring back its yearly Lego exhibit “Think Outside the Brick” starting Saturday, according to CMA’s website. The exhibit, which features numerous sculptures made exclusively from Lego bricks, will be housed in the JPMorgan Chase Center for Creativity, the website states.

The Ohio Lego User Group — an organization of adults who have “(re)discovered” their love of constructing creations out of Lego bricks, according to the group’s website — collaborates with CMA for this annual project. Josh Wilke, the group’s president, said this year’s exhibition departs from past iterations to include not only miniatures of beloved Columbus landmarks but also extraterrestrial alien worlds.?

“They’re things that we hadn’t done before,” Wilke said. “We’re excited to see what the public thinks of this new spin on a legacy.”

Even so, Wilke said old favorites will still make an appearance among fresh constructions. Creators have built a scale model of CMA as they’ve done in years past, but they have also created a replica of Huntington Bank’s downtown building for the first time ever, he said.

“Those are going to be probably the two most identifiable parts on the display,” Wilke said.

Wilke said the membership base within the Ohio Lego User’s Group, also known as OhioLUG, contains both trained artists and novices, all of whom share a passion for imaginatively building Lego bricks.

“It’s just a really fun medium to play with and to do different things,” Wilke said. “We love having the opportunity to show the range of what’s possible.”

Wilke said the building process has been challenging because around 30 OhioLUG members complete work remotely, meaning proper communication with neighboring project creators is crucial.

“There are always challenges that we did not quite anticipate,” Wilke said. “That’s part of the fun, the chaos of setup that we get to try and work through those issues there.”

Lydia Simon, CMA’s director of marketing and communications, said the museum aims to cultivate creativity in every visitor, regardless of their age. All guests can participate in scavenger hunts and other fun activities related to the installation, she said.

“Our mission is to provide great experiences with great art for everyone,” Simon said.

Wilke said OhioLUG members always value the opportunity to collaborate with CMA and demonstrate their creativity in the process.

“We love being here as part of the art museum,” Wilke said. “We consider this as our most prestigious show that we do every year.”

Simon said this exhibition is one of CMA’s most cherished, family-friendly holiday traditions, opening in mid-November every year.?

“It’s for anyone,” Simon said. “I’ve found that a lot of people have great feedback regardless of their age and love it.”?

“Think Beyond the Brick” opens Saturday and will be on view in the JPMorgan Chase Center for Creativity on the first floor of CMA. Tickets, which are included in the cost of general admission, can be purchased on CMA’s website.