501,158: That's how many Lego bricks were used in new sculptures at Morton Arboretum

Sean Kenney likes to describe himself as a “professional kid.”

It's not a bad description of the artist and author from Brooklyn, New York, who has used Lego pieces for more than 15 years to design and create contemporary sculptures for a variety of venues in Europe, Asia and the U.S. — including an exhibit this summer at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.

His “Nature Connects” display at the outdoor museum at 4100 Route 53 features 15 nature-themed pieces using a combined 501,158 Lego bricks.

If some of these pieces don't make you say “wow!” you may want to check to see if you still have a pulse.

The exhibit will be open through Sept. 15 and includes an 8-foot-long dragonfly, a butterfly on a milkweed plant, a buzzing bee and even a pair of gardeners at work with their plants and a wheelbarrow.

All 15 displays are within walking distance of the Visitor Center along a roughly one-mile route.

Arboretum organizers say the exhibit demonstrates that just as Lego bricks connect, so do all of nature's diverse building blocks: trees, animals, birds and insects.

For details on the exhibit and other events scheduled this summer at the arboretum, visit www.mortonarb.org.