Visitors to The North Carolina Arboretum, a 434-acre public garden located just south of Asheville, will enjoy a fun-filled outdoor adventure this summer and fall at the Arboretum’s newest exhibit, Nature Connects®, Art with LEGO® Bricks, on display throughout the Arboretum’s gardens July 30 – October 23, 2016.
Composed of more than 370,000 LEGO bricks, Nature Connects includes 14 nature-inspired sculptures constructed on a larger-than-life scale by renowned artist Sean Kenney. From a giant praying mantis, to a perched bald eagle, to a massive monarch butterfly made up of more than 60,000 LEGO bricks, Nature Connects draws inspiration from the living world and combines play with science to create an inspiring intersection of education, entertainment and the environment.
“Due to its size, uniqueness and magnitude, Nature Connects is a one-of-a-kind exhibit that truly appeals to all ages, groups and interests,” said George Briggs, executive director of The North Carolina Arboretum. “Sean Kenney does a terrific job of bringing together art and nature using an iconic toy, the LEGO brick, to help connect visitors with the natural world.” Based in New York City, Sean Kenney has been building with LEGO bricks since he was 4 years old. Having spent so much of his time playing with LEGO toys, he decided to make a career out of it. A self-described “professional kid,” Sean hopes his sculptures will inspire creativity and confidence in the children who see them.
In conjunction with the Arboretum’s annual Monarch Butterfly Day, September 17, 2016, the Arboretum will host a special Nature Connects Build Day. Participants are invited to create their own LEGO brick sculptures and learn more about the monarch butterfly and ways to contribute to the species’ conservation and preservation.
The North Carolina Arboretum is open daily 8am to 9pm from April through the end of October and 8am to 7pm November through March. Exhibit admission to Nature Connects and Monarch Butterfly Day is free; standard Arboretum parking fees of $12 for personal vehicles still apply with a special 50% discount day on the first Tuesday of every month. For more information, please call (828) 665-2492 or visit www.ncarboretum.org.
About The North Carolina Arboretum: For 30 years…Cultivating Connections between People and Plants…amid a 434-acre public garden, The North Carolina Arboretum is located within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest just south of Asheville and adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 393. Surrounded and crisscrossed by forested coves and meandering creeks in the botanically diverse Southern Appalachian Mountains, The North Carolina Arboretum is set in one of the most beautiful natural settings in America.
