CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Great Lakes Science Center’s “Build it!” exhibit that opens Saturday is built out of Legos and stands as one of its most ambitious temporary displays.
New features will be added between the opening and the final curtain in early September. And a significant part of it has been designed and executed by the science center’s staff, with the rest a loan from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
Dr. Kirsten Ellenbogen, the center’s president and CEO, said Wednesday that the organization “values creativity and experimentation as part of the experience for our guests.”
Video created for the Great Lakes Science Center by Michael Hickox whose stop-action animation is popular on YouTube.
The Indianapolis components are mostly static displays of medieval castles.
Six exhibits are the work of GLSC staff and all are hands-on and interactive, which the science center prefers.
“This represents a move to do our own exhibits instead of relying on travelling displays,” said Sue Allen, the center’s vice president for marketing.
“We can’t change traveling exhibits but we can adjust and improve ours for our guests,” Ellenbogen said.
These are the locally produced elements:
- Race tracks with a Lego car building station
- Brick puzzle mazes made by local expert builder Arthur Gugick
- An area where guests can make brick mosaic artwork to put on temporary display
- A blind-build challenge where guests use only their sense of touch to construct a specific mini-kit.
- Four stop-motion animation stations where guests can make their own Lego mini-movies
- A black brick station where guests discover how to sculpt using bricks
Build It! will play out in three phases. The first opens Saturday and includes the displays from Indianapolis.
When that leaves May 4, the second phase will retain the locally produced material as well as “Explore It!” – a 10-day festival running from May 27 through June 4 featuring workshops, opportunities to meet Lego experts, hand-selected sculptures from some of the best Lego artists in the country, and a few Lego related surprises.
“Move It!” is the theme of phase three, from June 17 through September 4, and it will feature the selected sculptures from Explore It!, simple machine exhibits developed by Lego expert Adam Ward that will inspire guests to build their own simple machine contraptions, and exhibits that let guests build and play with Lego Mindstorms robotics.
Presenting sponsor is ArcelorMittal, which has facilities throughout the United States, including a steel-producing operation near Steelyard Commons.
The Great Lakes Science Center is at 601 Erieside Ave. in downtown Cleveland (hours and admission).
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