LEGO animal sculptures visit Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens
Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens and Conservatory is hosting its second “Nature Connects” LEGO exhibit in two years.
About 300,000 LEGO pieces went into making the 27 sculptures on display through April 26th. The sculptures are located inside the visitors center.
Visitors are greeted in the lobby by a bald eagle. About 42,000 LEGO bricks went into the making of our national symbol.
The artist’s detailed work is amazing. We took a closer look at the eagle, and came away quite impressed by his design and labor.
You may want to keep your eyes open in the lobby, or you may encounter a giant praying mantis. The green creature blends in well with the plants on display.
A LEGO duck family has taken up its residency in the pond. The mother duck and two ducklings even have an actual nest to call home.
Making a return visit is a hummingbird. The bird is working hard at gathering pollen. More than 31,500 pieces went into the exhibit. You can read about the first Natures Connect exhibit here.
A Monarch butterfly – consisting of almost 60,550 LEGOs – works on a milkwood plant.
Kenney seems to like to put a real feel into some of the nature exhibits. Similar to 2013’s rabbit being stalked by a fox, 2015 offers a field mouse in an open area with a milk snake coiled a few feet behind it.
A little ways down the garden lies a giant Oriental Lilly in a bed of flowers.
Kenney’s artistic talent again comes to life with a scene depicting a person working in a garden. The piece is very detailed, including a bent knee under the torso as the person is bent over in the garden.
My favorite display consisted of squirrels and bluebirds on a fence getting ready to compete for food. About 8,600 LEGO bricks went into making this display.
The rest of the 27 items on display are very much worth the trip to Omaha’s botanical garden. It says a lot that Omaha was selected to host a LEGOs exhibit twice.
We wondered if Lauritzen staff may have put some LEGO items on display in the Marjorie K. Daugherty Conservatory. We took off for the recent addition.
While none of the “Nature Connects 2” sculptures were located inside the conservatory, we did spot a small LEGO cardinal sitting on a tree branch in the temperate zone.
We also encountered a small dragon. I wondered if there was enough water in the fountain to extinguish any fire coming from its mouth.
Since there were no more LEGO-inspired items on display in the conservatory, we checked out the flowers and plants in the temperate and tropical zones.
The LEGO exhibit is definitely worth a trip to Lauritzen Gardens. But, the botanical garden offers visitors a lot more to see. The conservatory allows visitors an opportunity to check out flowers and other plants during winter months. The outdoor gardens will open for viewing in the spring.
For more information on Lauritzen Gardens, please visit its website at www.lauritzengardens.org.
Disclaimer: Thank you to Lauritzen Gardens for the complimentary tickets. However, all opinions and views are ours.
