By Oregon Coast TODAY
LINCOLN CITY — The small, interlocking blocks have been a source of fascination and endless play for generations, inspiring kids and adults to engage their hands and minds with an unlimited range of possibilities.
Now, those plastic Lego bricks will be the centerpiece of the Brick Gallery, a new interactive exhibition space opening this month at the Lincoln City Cultural Center.
The Brick Gallery is the third exhibit space to be housed within the converted schoolhouse’s walls, joining the Chessman Gallery, which showcases rotating art exhibits, and the Fiber Arts Gallery, featuring textile-based artwork. It’s a smaller space, but remarkable for the complexity of the structures encased within its seven plexiglass-enclosed displays and for its workstation: a table upon which visitors can create their own Lego constructions.
Krista Eddy, the center’s visual arts director, recounts the gallery’s genesis and evolution.
“Just for fun, we had a little Lego Hogwarts display that was on exhibit for about 2 1/2 years,” she said. “We noticed that when it was advertised on the reader board outside the center, it brought families in by the boatload: local families, visiting families, families who were just driving through town. Some had lots of kids, but there were also adults that came in. It was an amazing phenomenon and we realized that there are a lot of people who just really love Lego.”
The idea began to germinate among the center’s leadership that those little bricks could enhance the cultural facility’s appeal to a broader swath of people.
“It clearly spoke to a part of the population who wouldn’t necessarily stop to look through a regular art gallery,” Eddy said. “And we thought, okay, maybe we can expand upon this. We can make it better.”
As children, Eddy and her sister Trisha had owned some vintage pirate-themed Lego kits.
“I dug them all out and re-built them,” Eddy said. “Then I free-built the island they’re sitting upon.”
The newly reconstructed model was put on display, and, like the Hogwarts model, drew more visitors to the center. A collection of Lego extravaganzas had begun to take shape and was given considerable impetus with the gift of an entire Lego city, complete with storefronts, apartment houses, an array of vehicles and even a Ferris wheel located on its outskirts.
“The Florian family, father Joey and son Xander, built it and had it in an entire room in their house,” Eddy said.
When Xander outgrew his attachment to the construction, the family — at his mother’s urging — decided it was time for it to go. They had seen the Lego displays at the center and chose to donate it there.
Other Lego models were added, bringing the number of displays to seven.
“And then we made a workstation,” Eddy said, “It’s the best part of the gallery because kids come in and spend time building things and leave them on the shelves.”
The five brightly painted shelves mounted against one of the gallery’s walls are already crowded with Lego constructions.
“These are all made by the kids that have been in here working,” Eddy said. “We often peek in to say ‘hi’ and see that parents can’t get their kids to leave.”
The workstation, combined with scavenger hunts that challenge visitors to look for hidden objects within the seven displays, make for a highly interactive experience.
“We ask visitors to find a golden egg, a spider or a pair of scissors,” Eddy said. “just details that are hard to see. It’s a way to engage people, to make it more fun.”
The Lego phenomenon originated in Denmark when a carpenter, Ole Christiansen, began making wooden toys and switched to plastic bricks in the late 1940s. The Lego brick as we now know it made its first appearance in the late 1950s and quickly acquired an international following. Kids found the little plastic bricks to be mesmerizing, and parents and educators appreciated the toy’s educational and creative qualities — the spatial learning that accompanies the building process.
“My generation grew up with Legos and now they do Legos with their kids,” said Eddy, who was careful to note that the Brick Gallery is run on a strictly nonprofit basis and has no connection to the Lego organization.
The new Brick Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, go to www.lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.
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