Exhibit inspired by LEGO® Toys

Opens Feb. 5, at Scranton’s Everhart Museum Scranton — Who hasn’t enjoyed playing with the ever popular LEGO® building blocks at one time or another? The Everhart Museum’s latest Gallery One exhibit, “Brick Creations: Student Art at the Everhart,” highlights the work of area students who were invited to create artworks inspired by real or imaginary LEGO creations. The schools involved in this exhibition include: Blue Ridge Elementary School, Howard Gardner School of Discovery, Lakeside Elementary School, Mid Valley Secondary School, Montrose Area High School, Mountain View Elementary School, and Stourbridge Primary Center. Brick Creations is on display in the Everhart Museum’s Gallery One beginning Feb. 5 and continuing through May 2, and is part of the Everhart’s ongoing strategy to nurture creativity and showcase artistic excellence. The artists represented in Brick Creations range in age from 2nd to 12th grade students. Everhart Curator Nezka Pfeifer was excited to see how creative students could be in expressing a three-dimensional concept (the LEGO brick) in a two-dimensional form by using drawing, collage, photography, and painting. Reviewing the work, she commented on the sophistication of the subjects and how the medium used (particularly photography and graphic design) demonstrates how digital technology has become a common tool for artists of all ages. “I commend all of the wonderful teachers and artists who guided their students to be inventive in these artworks and present their own aesthetic and perspective,” says Pfeifer. “The students who participated in this project impressed the Everhart’s staff with their creativity in illustrating the LEGO universe.” Brick Creations: Student Art at the Everhart complements the exhibit “The Art of the Brick®” featuring 30 works by New York-based artist Nathan Sawaya who used nearly one million colorful LEGO pieces to create his whimsical and awe-inspiring sculptures. Sawaya has been featured on “The Today Show,” “Late Night with David Letterman,” and “The Colbert Report.” The Art of the Brick® is on loan from the artist and will also be on display at the Everhart Museum, February 5 through May 2, 2010. Partial underwriting for that exhibit is provided by Gertrude Hawk Chocolates, Inc., Penn Security Bank & Trust Co., and The Oppenheim Family. Closed during the month of January, the Everhart Museum will reopen on Feb. 1. Call for hours. Admission is $5/adults, $3/students & seniors, $2/children 6-12, and free to Everhart Museum members. Call 570-346-7186; e-mail general.information@everhart-museum.org .