Out & About // LEGO Exhibit at South Coast Botanic Garden

This past Saturday was a gorgeous day in the south bay. South Coast Botanic Garden is currently hosting the only Los Angeles area appearance of Sean Kenney’s Nature Connects displays made entirely from LEGO bricks. As was I driving there I became excited, as I have always liked to build with LEGOs.

South Coast Botanic Garden is an 87-acre public botanic garden containing over 200,000 plants from around the world. The garden was created on a sanitary landfill in 1959 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors at the request of a citizens’ group. Specialty gardens include the Japanese Garden, Fuchsia Garden, Children’s Garden and the 2-acre formal James J. White Rose Garden. A man-made lake at the center of the garden attracts several species of waterfowl. The garden is an oasis for over 200 species of birds that make their homes at the garden or just use the garden as a stop in their annual migration.

Audra Patz, Director, Development & Community Relations at South Coast Botanic Garden greeted me when I arrived. She welcomed me and invited me to stroll the garden looking at the 15 nature-themed displays from LEGOs, engineered from nearly half a million LEGO bricks. Kenney and his team spent more than 4,170 hours (173 days) building the pieces in the exhibit. Visitors will also have the opportunity play with the 30,000 LEGO bricks on hand at the Garden throughout the exhibit’s run.

As I walked through the garden, I found myself in awe of the various themed displays. The tallest sculpture is the hummingbird at 6 foot; the longest sculpture is the dragonfly at 4 feet and the heaviest sculpture is the bison at 626 pounds.

The Nature Connects display will continue through May 8th at the South Coast Botanic Garden.

The Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce values South Coast Botanic Garden’s membership and is appreciative of this hands-on family activity.