People of all ages took a break from the overcast, dreary weather this weekend and were transported to the colorful world of Lego bricks during BrickUniverse's 2024 Build It! Tour at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The tour brought together Lego builders, artists, and enthusiasts from all over the U.S. to display their work and encourage growth of the rapidly expanding Lego brick-building community.
The nearly sold out event, which includes a total of 16 tour stops in cities around the country, is owned and operated by the Beights family of Charlottesville, Virginia. The family came up with the idea 10 years ago, and hosted their first show in 2015 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Angela Beights, who cofounded BrickUniverse with her husband, and her daughter, Lauren, sat at a table outside the event's entrance, while sons Roland and York manned the doors.
"My siblings and I, we loved Legos growing up, and it was just a family activity," Roland Beights said. When the family's interest in Lego bricks expanded, they started attending fan events.
Angela stressed that the entire family was involved from day one. "Because of (the kids) going to the events, we kept wondering, 'Could we do this now?'" she said.
"I went to my husband with all the costs. And then we just started the first one, and it just grew from there," Angela added. "That's the thing about our event that we're trying to make people realize. That Lego is more than a toy, it's art," she said.
Photo Gallery
Lego Art Convention
Photos from the BrickUniverse Lego Convention at the Statehouse Convention Center.
Lauren Beights had some of her own Lego art on display during the event, including two black-and-white horse head mosaics that took about a week to construct.
Roland encouraged attendees to purchase a Lego set and use their imaginations. "Who knows," he said, "they could end up at one of these events showcasing their work!"
Attendees at the 2024 Build It! Tour could purchase a Lego kit from a number of vendors as well as other paraphernalia. "Build zones" were also scattered throughout the event, encouraging inspired visitors to construct and display their own creations using provided Lego bricks.
Across the floor from the vendors stood hearts of all shapes and sizes constructed entirely out of Lego bricks. The hearts were part of San Diego-based Lego artist Jonathan Lopes's Love Love Love exhibition.
Lopes's experience with Lego bricks began in 1998 when he "bought a Lego kit on a whim out of curiosity and nostalgia.
"Over the years I started creating my own things out Legos and posting photos of them online. And then people would start emailing me and asking me to building things for them," Lopes said. "Slowly my side hustle became my full-time hustle, so I left my career in book publishing and started doing this full time."
Lopes has been traveling with BrickUniverse since their start in 2015. He and other Lego artists at the event said that long hours of Lego construction can be very isolating. Events like the BrickUniverse's 2024 Build It! Tour allow them to step out of their homes and connect with fans and fellow artists.
"It used to be that I would create something out of Legos and post photos online," he said. "But now, showing people my work in person and just seeing their reaction is amazing. You know the kids just love it."
A few feet away, Rocco Buttliere of Chicago stood next to his highly detailed recreations of famous buildings. Buttliere, who has been "building with bricks as long as I can remember," emphasized the ways that Lego-building can bring families together.
"It's great because those parents are passing it on to their kids and it's multigenerational at this point," Buttliere said.
The Beights' were not the only family in attendance united by their love of Lego bricks. Michelle "Mikki" Mahaffey of Cashion, Oklahoma and her entire family had their works on display at the convention as well. While her husband Nathan and son Justin prefer constructing Lego trains, Mikki and her daughter Arica have created an entire Lego town with houses, restaurants, and shops.
For Mikki, BrickUniverse's 2024 Build It! Tour is for connection and inspriation.
"You get to see a lot of friends and hang out with people, and you learn different things," Michelle said. "I've just started to learn how to do lighting (with Lego bricks), and you get different ideas."
The Mahaffeys are all members of the Arkansas LEGO Users Group (ArkLUG). The group, founded in 2012, includes members from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.
"We started with six of us and we're at 50 people now," Richard Glatter, ArkLUG's president, said.
This is the second year that members of ArkLUG have displayed their work at the BrickUniverse Build it! Tour.
To Glatter, gatherings like this display the countless possibilities that Lego bricks offer to pros and amateurs alike.
"Just around here ... you're able to see it ... how wide the Lego hobby is and how many different ways people can use Lego," Glatter said. "People make submarines with the same parts that people are using to make trains, which are the same parts to make buildings (and) all sorts of things."