CURRENT:

potential energy

PAST:

mini movie festival
connect the dots
version>04 NFO XPO
michigan caucus day
sellout
gr tap
lego landmarks
100M
pingpong
meijer
be mine
maters
helmscenes
patchwork
auto show
promo

lego landmarks

After our pongpingpong project at the UICA we were asked to develop another idea for the very large Monroe Gallery. We toyed around with a number of materials and eventually fancied working with LEGO building blocks. We met and discussed possibilities with the UICA and they suggested that we team up with a local non-profit called Art Works who works with high school aged kids. Immediately, images of murals and other iffy public art activities circled our heads. After meeting with Cindy and Amy, however, we were psyched. Art Works works with young people, but they are PAID to work with artists on projects in which the artists are also paid. They treat the students like adults and they are way beyond murals.

So the project worked like this: we led a group of 15-21 year olds in the translation of Grand Rapids landmarks into the scale and system of LEGO building blocks. We based our scale on the LEGO people; they are 5 blocks high, so we made each block 1 foot. The buildings and sculptures ranged from 2 stories to over 25 stories. One of the structures, the 6th Street bridge, was over 13 feet long. The process involved a few fieldtrips and lots of math and diagrams. In the end, Art Works hooked us again with a opening event and auction with great food and tons of people. This was by far our most high profile event with hundreds of people walking though at one time or another, and ads on the radio and in print! Well beyond what we could have arranged ourselves. In the end we used tens of thousands of LEGO blocks that were donated and bought, not a small feat and one that was made all more possible by the fire of the wonderful Amy and Cindy, give it up for Art Works!