The Great Wall 3D The Great Wall (2017) Sign Up For Free! THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: RUSALKA ENCORE THE SHACK: MOVIE PREMIERE KONG: SKULL ISLAND 3D SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE - ORDINAL SCALE See more pre-sale tickets News Briefs: Watch Ice Cube vs. Charlie Day in 'Fist Fight' Trailer Need a refund or exchange? It's easy with our worry-free tickets. Here's what's included with every worry-free ticket purchase: Peace of mind of a guaranteed ticket. We know life happens. You may exchange or request a refund for your entire order, less the convenience fee, through Fandango up until the posted showtime. You'll have to complete your refund and exchange before the posted showtime indicated on your ticket. We'll refund your credit card or we can credit your Fandango account to use for another movie. Nathan Sawaya was about 10 years old when his parents broke the bad news that he couldn’t get a dog. So, he built a full-size canine out of his LEGO bricks.
“It was kind of an aha moment, when I thought, ‘Wow, you really don’t have to use this toy to build what’s on the front of the box.’ I could use it to create whatever I imagined,” he said. About a decade ago, the former attorney became one of the first sculptors to take the iconic toys into the art world. One of his trailblazing “The Art of the Brick: Permission to Play” traveling exhibitions is now on view at Science Museum Oklahoma, marking the first time his seminal LEGO artworks have been shown publicly in the Sooner State. Everything is awesome for local LEGO fans these days. Not only did “The LEGO Movie,” the biggest box-office hit and one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, debut this week on DVD and Blu-ray, but Oklahoma City also is exhibiting the jaw-dropping works of two real-life Master Builders. Yes, a Master Builder is a real thing outside the movie’s superheroic animated world. LEGO Master Builders are the skilled craftspeople who design all of the official LEGO sets and create giant LEGO sculptures for LEGOLAND theme parks, LEGO stores and events around the world.
Like Sawaya, Kurt Zimmerle, the head artist on the OK CityScape exhibit, has earned the Master Builder title. Five years ago, he led the construction of the extensive toy-brick reproduction of Oklahoma City’s skyline, which includes landmarks like the state Capitol, the Myriad Gardens, the Devon Tower and more. After wowing crowds in Automobile Alley and at Penn Square Mall, the OK CityScape recently moved into the lobby of Remington Park, right across the street from “Art of the Brick” at Science Museum Oklahoma. “The whole project, what was fun and challenging was trying to think of what LEGO elements and bricks that I could use to create the architectural features as close as possible to real life,” said Zimmerle, a Michigan art teacher who used to work for LEGO and now makes his toy-brick creations on the side. “You look at that (architectural detail) and go, ‘Can I use an inverted roof brick for that piece? Or can I use a flower to replicate the medallion along the cornice of the building?’”
In 2009, businessman and philanthropist David Matthews hired Zimmerle to create the OK CityScape as a fundraising tool, initially for Oklahoma City Educare. With the move to Remington Park, the 2-million-brick installation has a new beneficiary: Easter Seals Oklahoma. Although entry to the racetrack lobby is free and open to all ages, a receptacle is on hand so exhibit-goers can donate to the charity, which provides services to children and adults with disabilities and other special needs. “It’s a way to give back to the community, and Easter Seals is a great organization. We’re proud of the relationship,” said Matt Vance, chairman-elect of the Easter Seals Oklahoma board of directors and Remington Park’s vice president of racing and wagering. Zimmerle, who lived in Oklahoma City for six months while building the CityScape, hopes adults and children take the time to really look closely at the vast sculpture. “What I like to talk to my art students about is looking at the details.
So, first shot, ‘Wow, it’s an incredible building display,’ second shot, ‘Oh my goodness, what is happening over here? Is that Batman and Robin? Is this Darth Vader? What are they doing?’ ... So it makes it just an added element of fun,” he said by phone from Michigan. “I think people are understanding more that it is an art form. It’s not just a toy, it is a form of art. I like to think I was on the cusp of that. I think that’s cool.” While he now owns about 4 million LEGO bricks between his Los Angeles and New York studios, Sawaya started with just a desire to do something creative after his long days working as a lawyer. He drew, he painted, he sculpted, and one day, he picked up some LEGO bricks and decided to revisit his childhood in his art, eventually starting a website to share photos of his toy-brick sculptures. “It was when my website crashed from too many hits that I realized, ‘OK, there’s really something to this,’ and I made the decision to leave the law firm and become a full-time artist,” said the Colville, Wash., native, now based in New York.
His 1,400-square-foot Oklahoma exhibit may not have a dog, but it does have a life-size cat, larger-than-life crayons, a scale model of Mount Rushmore, a colorful self-portrait and one of his surreal human sculptures depicting a yellow man pulling apart his head. “I get nervous a little bit for people who have never seen the work in person before, because I want them to enjoy it. I want them to be inspired, and I want them to really come out of it feeling like, ‘Wow, I want to go home and create.’ I hope they get that message of allowing themselves to do a little art.” For Oklahoma County families who are inspired to build their own toy sculptures, several Metropolitan Library System locations host periodic LEGO Builders Club sessions that are free and open to the public. On Monday, dozens of youngsters crowded into the Del City Library to sift, snap and stack thousands of bricks into their own creations, from zoos to castles. “A lot of kids don’t have LEGOs at home — or they don’t have buckets and buckets at LEGOs at home,” said Kristin Williamson, children’s services coordinator for the library system.