A couple of weeks ago, our friend Nicole came to visit us from Australia. She had never been to Oregon, so we tried to hit as many of the highlights as we could in the six days we had together. There was still snow on the ground, so some locations were not feasible, but we did spend two days on the Oregon/northern California coast and three days in the greater Portland area. The remaining two days were spent tooling around our little town and nearby Roseburg, mainly shopping and cooking.
Boo lives in greater Portland. She works at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). When I told her we were bringing Nicole to Portland for a visit, Boo told us that OMSI was running a special exhibit called The Art of the Brick. We knew we had to go.
Nicole is a huge LEGO fan. She has a four year old nephew, who most of her purchases go to, but truth be told, she keeps some of them for herself. She took me to the LEGO store in Tigard and, I have to say, I would have bought the LEGO Disney Castle, if I could’ve afforded it. So cute!!
OMSI is located in the Industrial District of Portland, on the Willamette River. It was built in 1992, and encompasses the existing Portland General Electric turbine building. The museum has six permanent exhibits, eight labs, and a theater and planetarium, as well as rotating special exhibits, like The Art of the Brick.
Of course, as soon as we parked and paid our admission, the first thing we had to do was find Boo! She works at the cafe at OMSI.
After our visit with Boo, we went straight to The Art of the Brick. The exhibit starts out with a short video by award-winning artist, Nathan Sawaya. Previously a NYC corporate lawyer, Sawaya is the first artist to ever take LEGO into the art world.
After the video, we were free to walk around the 2 stories of exhibit. It would be impossible, for me to describe, so instead I’ll share with you some of the amazing sculptures we experienced.
And that is just a very small sampling of the many beautiful and thought-provoking sculptures at The Art of the Brick exhibit. Check it out at a museum near you.
I did not receive any compensation for this post. I bought my own tickets and wanted to share the experience with my readers.
