Thousands of people attended the BrickUniverse convention over the weekend in Cleveland, including members of a local Lego building group.
The Northeast Ohio Lego Users Group (NEOLUG) took up about a third of the floor space at the Convention Center, displaying everything from a miniature Severance Hall to a large portrait of Indians Manager Terry Francona.
John Stephens brought his cityscape, which included the Cleveland skyline, FirstEnergy Stadium and even the proposed NuCLEUS building. He says that sculptures like those – which consume hundreds of hours and thousands of pieces – require some ingenuity.
“You use things like hands from a mini-figure, and attach them to a pole, and at that scale, now they’re flags.”
Stephens says his next build will be the Cleveland Indians’ ballpark. But the Shaker Heights native says the sign will definitely say “Jacob’s Field” and not the current name, “Progressive Field.”
Ken Cefaratti is also with the Northeast Ohio Lego group and says he definitely sees a link in his group between childhood Lego use and adults in technical fields.
“We have a guy works for NASA, we have engineers, we have teachers. It helps because it teaches the math, it teaches the science and it’s creative – it’s fun. You don’t think you’re learning, but you are.”
The traveling BrickUniverse show also included several NASA-themed sculptures, some of which have been on display in the past at the Great Lakes Science Center.
Here's video highlights from the show:
