February 2 through May 19
9
a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
500,000 LEGO® bricks, 27 amazing sculptures, 14 incredible
displays, one unique experience
About the exhibit
Walk under an 8-foot tall hummingbird,
stand amidst a 7-foot rose, go nose-to-nose with 5-foot butterfly and then try
your own hand at building in the LEGO® Brickyard and show us what you can make!
Inspired by nature and built from nearly half-a-million LEGO® pieces, this
indoor exhibit features 27 larger-than-life sculptures that represent the
web of incredible connections that sustain life on Earth.
Ranging in size from six inches to
nearly eight feet, a variety of creatures are represented in the exhibit,
including a tiger swallowtail butterfly, a green darner dragonfly, a
hummingbird, even a gardener. The largest sculpture is a mother bison made from
45,143 bricks.
This exhibit is included with admission, $6 for adults ($7 after
April 1), $3 for children 6-12 and free for garden members and children under
six.
Presenting sponsors
Mrs. Kathryn Burney
The H. Lee and Carol Gendler Charitable
Fund
Sponsored by:
Union
Pacific Corporation
C&A
Industries
Deb and Bill Dinsmoor
Fat
Brain Toys
Barb and Ron Schaefer
Children's Hospital and Medical Center
Five Points Bank
Lauritzen Gardens Senior Staff
Learning
HQ
National
Everything Wholesale
Mr. Tadd Pullin
With the support of the Nebraska Arts Council and the
Nebraska Cultural Endowment
Everything in nature is connected… Just as LEGO® bricks connect together to create something fun, colorful
and intricate, so too is nature. All living things on Earth are interconnected
to create a complex and amazing network with each piece relying on the others
to which it is connected.
Through the
exhibit and its accompanying interpretive messaging, visitors will learn how
ecosystems rely on diversity to survive and thrive, how healthy and balanced
populations are maintained, about the connection between plants and
pollinators, how human activity has a deep-rooted and often permanent impact on
our planet, and many other messages.
About the artist
For nearly a decade, Sean Kenney has
been using LEGO® bricks as a medium for contemporary sculpture. His work has
been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC news, ELLE,
Good Morning America, and he has created pieces for television shows,
celebrities, tourist attractions, and fortune 500 companies around the world.
While the ubiquitous, brightly colored, plastic rectangles could easily be
dismissed as a child's plaything, so too could certain clay, paints, or
pencils. Working with the medium brings new and exciting forms to sculpture,
dictated by a limited palette, grids, and blocky forms.
Overcoming these challenges is
exciting and rewarding for both the artist and the viewer. Unlike traditional mediums, the toy
immediately connects with so many people on such a personal level. Each
sculpture touches people as both a reflection from their childhood and as a
sculptural piece of art. Sean aims to spark creativity in the viewer,
especially in the case of a child, who can not only visualize creating
something great themselves, but who can actually go home and do so.
Sean Kenney was the first of now only 13 LEGO® Certified Professionals
worldwide, who are not employees of LEGO®, but who are officially recognized by
the LEGO® Group as trusted business partners because of their building
proficiency, their enthusiasm for the LEGO® brick and building system, and a
professional approach towards other LEGO® fans and the broader public.
·
For more information about the artist,
and to view other works, visit Sean Kenney's website at www.seankenney.com.
·
To view images of sculptures featured
in Nature Connects, visit our photo
gallery.
