Architecture of the Imagination: The Lure of the LEGO® Brick Featuring Nathan Sawaya: The Art of the Brick™
March 2 - August 17, 2008
Sponsored by Life Options, LLC & The Aron Family
 More than just child's play, the nearly iconic LEGO® brick has become an art medium all its own.
"LEGO® is a phenomenon," explains Curator of Collections Rosa Portell. "They are deceptively simple, but it is in this sheer simplicity that their success lies. The uses are only limited to the imaginations of their creators."
New York-based "brick artist" Nathan Sawaya has elevated LEGOŽ construction to an art form. Besides recreating objects and buildings - which he does, brilliantly - Sawaya uses the LEGO® brick as other artist's use canvas, stone, or clay: to express himself and to challenge viewers to interpret his creations. His amazing "Red, Yellow, and Blue" series explores emotion through the human form, reaching an artistic level not usually associated with a toy. Sawaya has been featured on some of the biggest talk shows around including The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman and The Colbert Report. His works are on display in major museums across the country. Visitors to Architecture of the Imagination will have the opportunity to see Sawaya at work on a new piece on Sunday, June 29.
For more information on Nathan Sawaya and The Art of the Brick, visit www.brickartist.com.
A second part of the exhibition, All Aboard with Bill Probert and Friends, explores LEGO® bricks as engineering tools. Bill Probert of Fairfield, a LEGO® train aficionado and hobbyist extraordinaire, will share his one-of-a-kind trains and lead a group of Stamford High School students in creating a constantly evolving trainscape. During the run of the exhibition, visitors can come and watch the students at work adding buildings and other elements to the layout.
In the last portion of the exhibition, visitors will be invited to try their hand at creating their own brick masterpieces in an interactive, hands-on portion of the exhibition.
Donations of LEGO® bricks are being sought for the hands-on, interactive portion of this exhibition. Please donate new or gently used bricks in the Bendel Mansion (main building) lobby.
Architecture of the Imagination: The Lure of the LEGO® Brick featuring Nathan Sawaya: The Art of the Brick will be on view in the Stamford Museum & Nature Center's Bendel Mansion Museum Galleries Sunday, March 2, 2008 through Sunday, August 17, 2008.
For more information, call 203.322.1646 ext.6521.
Members: FREE | Non-Members: Free with gate admission: Adults $8,
Seniors & Students $6, Children (4-17) $4, Under 3 FREE.
RELATED PROGRAMS
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Artist at Work
June 29, 11am to 4:30 pm
Meet artist Nathan Sawaya, and watch him at work on a new piece.
Trainscape Design
Visitors can watch the All Aboard with Bill Probert & Friends team at work on select Saturdays during the run of the exhibition.
Play-Well Engineering Programs
April 26, May 31 & June 14, 1:30 to 3 pm
Come out and join the Green Revolution! Using LEGO and other building systems we will design and build environmentally specific devices. Kids will learn while they play! Programs are available for pre-K through fifth graders and will focus on a variety of engineering topics.
Play-Well Pre-Engineering
(PreK4 - Kindergarten)
Create, Play, and Learn. Build a house, town, pyramids, towers, and more. Build cars and race them; crash them; repair them. Explore the many possibilities of LEGOŽ building systems while learning useful construction techniques.
Please note: These classes available on April 26 and May 31 only.
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Play-Well Green Engineering Basics
(grades 1 - 2)
You'll build cars powered by different energy sources, like sun-power, testing alternative methods. We'll also explore building energy efficient houses and learn about our sustainable Earth.
April 26: Basic car and house building techniques.
May 31: Move up to solar cars.
June 14: Renewable energy houses and the sustainable Earth.
Play-Well Green Engineering
(grades 3 - 5)
You'll design and build machines and vehicles powered by renewable energy sources. We'll explore different energy systems such as solar, wind and water, building wind and water mills to power buildings and houses.
April 26: Solar cars and drag racers.
May 31: Wind and water machines.
June 14: Renewable energy sources powering buildings and our sustainable world.
Materials: All Materials will be provided.
Note: NO MATERIALS OR FINISHED PROJECTS CAN BE TAKEN HOME BY CHILDREN.
Pre-registration required; please call 203.322.1646 x6521.
COST PER SESSION:
Members: $25 | Non-Members: $30
COST OF SERIES (ALL 3 PROGRAMS):
Members: $70 | Non-Members: $85
MINIMUM OF 12 PARTICANTS NEEDED FOR EACH PROGRAM |
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John Singer Sargent's "Portrait of J. P. Wolff," ca. 1890. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kent
UPCOMING EVENT
Desiree, Edward and The Little Black Book
April 4 - August 17
Museum's Sargent painting, and its history, on display
In 1940, Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, his wife Desiree, and their young son Edward boarded one of the last ships to leave the Netherlands before the German invasion. The Goudstikkers left behind Jacques's famous art collection. To ensure its eventual recovery, Jacques carried a little black notebook in which he had recorded every item in his collection. Less than 24 hours after boarding the ship, he would die at sea, in tragic circumstances.
Immediately after World War II, Desiree and Edward Goudstikker returned to Holland, black book in hand, to try to recover the collection. What followed was one of the most determined and lengthy battles ever waged for the recovery of art misappropriated in war time. The Museum's Sargent painting was in Jacques Goudstikker's black book. How did it end up in the Museum? Why are the Goudstikker heirs happy that it is here? What does the painting say about Jacques Goudstikker's great collecting "eye?" Learn the answers to these questions by visiting the Bendel Mansion's Museum Lobby April 4-Aug. 17
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