Interactive Lego brick exhibition celebrating ‘Awesome Black Creativity’ at DuPage Children’s Museum
“Awesome Black Creativity,” a celebration of Black figures in Lego Bricks, is on display through March in the Good Show! Gallery at DuPage Children's Museum, 301 N. Washington St. in Naperville.
This interactive exhibition of 26 Lego brick-built figures, an A–Z series, will inspire museum guests to think about building in new, innovative ways while providing the opportunity to make and display their own creations alongside Lego Masters.
“At DCM we continue to highlight creativity of all kinds! Using a classic childhood medium such as Lego bricks provides an easy entry point for families to engage,” said Dustin Thacker, DCM’s Arts & Maker Specialist. “The ‘Awesome Black Creativity’ exhibition is innovative and informative. Guests will find themselves using LEGOs to express their own creativity in clever styles.”
The Good Show! Gallery will be set up with “Lego galore” for guests to view, explore, wonder, learn, and build.
Dave Kaleta and Richard Dryden represented themselves on Lego Masters on FOX in 2021 as a team of dads who are passionate about environmentalism, social justice, and civic and cultural pride.
To continue the work they began on the show, they embarked on a 26-week project.
“Awesome Black Creativity” celebrates contemporary and historical Black creatives across disciplines such as contemporary dance, photography, music, film, culinary arts, activism, and more.
Together the team collaborated to select who would be featured; Kaleta designed and built the figures and Dryden conducted the research and wrote the bios.
While it was challenging narrowing down the list to 26 individuals, their goal was to reflect a diverse sense of creativity. Most of the builds show the figures in a position doing something with a creative tool, whether it is Serena and Venus Williams playing tennis or Gordon Parks with a camera.
The words and the bricks work in tandem with each other. Dryden shared, “The contributions of our Awesome Black Creatives are for everyone. The celebration of them through the medium of Lego is a way for kids and adults to see accomplished individuals who look like them in a product that is starting to reflect diversity through a broader spectrum of Black and Brown skin tones.”
On Saturday, March 2, the creators of “Awesome Black Creativity” will be at the museum hosting open workshops from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
Children will have the opportunity to work alongside these Lego Masters and create their very own self-portraits from Lego bricks.
DCM has something for everyone! Plan your visit today at dupagechildrens.org.
Everything the museum does is framed through the lens of relationships, play, and joyful learning. This program is supported by Ecolab and is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. The museum is able to offer extraordinarily learning experiences through community philanthropic support. To support unique learning opportunities at DuPage Children’s Museum, please visit dupagechildrens.org/give/.
About DuPage Children’s Museum
The museum helps develop curiosity, creativity, thinking, and problem solving in young children through its mission to nurture joyful discovery and learning. Interactive exhibits and programs make learning fun for children and adults playing together. The museum reaches over 500,000 people annually; visitors hail from all 50 states and 575 ZIP codes in Illinois. The museum’s impact extends across cultural, financial, and educational boundaries well beyond the Chicago area. It endeavors to ensure that all children thrive through access to extraordinary learning experiences. Visit www.dupagechildrens.org or call (630) 637-8000.
About Dave Kaleta
Dave Kaleta is a native of Chicago and a lifelong South Sider. He studied art education and early childhood education and teaches kindergarten at The University of Chicago Laboratory School. His interest in Lego began as a child, with an early set gifted from his mother. He has explored Lego throughout his life having his work published in anthologies and displayed in museums around the world. He lives with his wife and son in Hyde Park with a full Lego studio in their home.
About Richard Dryden
Richard Dryden is a writer and DJ, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Being immersed in NYC's oasis of art, music, and fashion, he pursued a career in media. His credits include Complex, The Fader, AFROPUNK, Office, Vice, LargeUp, Okayplayer, and Mass Appeal. Under his DJ Treats moniker, he played fundraiser events for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, museum and art galleries in New York City, and a magical wedding reception featured in Vogue.
His hobby of building Lego sets motivated him to write about Lego, which introduced him to a global community of Lego artists, which included Dave Kaleta. Their friendship bloomed through the production of “Lego Masters” in 2021. Their dynamic collaboration continued through the “Awesome Black Creativity” project.