'The Art of the Brick' LEGO Exhibit Opens Saturday In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's The Franklin Institute will be full of bricks starting this weekend.

No, not real bricks, LEGO bricks.

"The Art of the Brick" will open Saturday at the Franklin Institute and run through Sept. 2.

This critically acclaimed collection of more than 100 creative and inspiring pieces by renowned contemporary artist Nathan Sawaya was featured at The Franklin Institute in 2015 and is returning with several creations never before seen in Philadelphia, as well as a custom Philly design newly created by Sawaya, and a 9,000-square-foot interactive brick play space—both exclusive to The Franklin Institute.

New to Philadelphia, "PERNiCiEM: The Endangered Species Connection," is a multimedia collaboration between Sawaya and award-winning photographer Dean West that aims to creatively raise awareness of some of the world’s most endangered species. The collection features 13 large-scale sculptures — created from LEGO bricks — of endangered animals, including the humpback whale, polar bear, and lowland gorilla, each presented with a cinematic image of their natural habitat, shot on location in multiple remote global regions.

"The PERNiCiEM collection is a creative and powerful way to illustrate the urgent issue of extinction," Sawaya said. "We traveled the globe to find different locations where these actual endangered species would be in their natural environment, but we wanted to use the LEGO brick versions to convey the message that they are endangered, and we need to act."

Other pieces making their Philadelphia debut this February include reimagined versions of Basquiat’s "Pez Dispenser," Frida Kahlo’s "The Frame," Hilma af Klint’s "The Swan No. 17," and "Decisions," a gravity-defying work comprising 112,306 bricks, making it Sawaya’s largest piece yet.

Guests will get an up-close, in-person view of the iconic pop culture fan favorite, "Yellow," a life-size sculpture of a man ripping his chest open with thousands of yellow LEGO bricks cascading from the cavity.

In addition, they can walk under a 20-foot-long T. rex dinosaur skeleton made from bricks and come face-to-face with its giant LEGO brick skull.

Upon exiting the exhibit, guests will enter a 9,000-square-foot brick play space with hundreds of thousands of LEGO bricks spread across five distinct stations. In this interactive area, guests of all ages can create their own designs or participate in brick-building activities. Additionally, the play space will have a designated area for younger guests to engage with LEGO DUPLO sets.

"The Art of the Brick" is the first major museum exhibition to use LEGO bricks as the sole art medium.

Tickets are available in timed slots from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Daytime adult tickets are $43 while children (3 to 11 years old) get in for $39.

Evening tickets are available Thursday through Saturday for timed slots 5 p.n. to close for $20.

Evening tickets include admission to "The Art of the Brick" only.

For information on purchasing tickets, visit the Franklin Institute's website here