FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

World’s Largest LEGO® Easter Egg Hunt Is Grand Opening Event for Eggs-traordinaire Museum Exhibit

“THE ART OF THE BRICK”
Debuts at Lancaster Museum of Art Easter Weekend
Saturday, April 7, 2007

LANCASTER, Pennsylvania (January 23, 2007) – It’s a BYOB event. That’s Bring Your Own Basket … as hundreds of kids will search high and low for 500 very special Easter Eggs in Lancaster, PA on Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 10 a.m. What makes this hunt particularly unique is that all the colorful eggs were hand-crafted out of LEGO® building blocks by well-known artist Nathan Sawaya.

The event will be the official kick-off ceremony to the country’s first major art exhibit to focus exclusively on the LEGO toy as an art medium, hosted by the Lancaster Museum of Art. The Art of the Brick debuts Saturday, April 7 and will run through May 20, 2007.

This 33-year-old New York artist will be exhibiting more than twenty-five sculptures, mosaics and portraits created solely from standard LEGO bricks over the period 2002 – 2007 with several new ones created specifically for this gallery showing. Nearly one million colorful LEGO pieces transformed into whimsical and awe-inspiring images will be on display in the 500-square-foot von Hess Gallery.

Opening weekend festivities include the unusual Easter Egg Hunt as well as story time with the Easter Bunny, LEGO building contests, autograph sessions and breakfast. Tickets are $20 per person and reservations can be made by logging on to www.lmapa.org or calling 717-394-3497.

Inside, the Lancaster Museum of Art will be transformed into a rainbow of color as Sawaya’s art catapults a common toy into clever and highly-skilled art that kids of all ages will find fascinating.

“These works are very personal to me, since they reflect my growth as an artist as I strove to discover my creative identity," said Sawaya. “The museum exhibit is accessible because it engages the child in all of us while simultaneously illuminating sophisticated and complex concepts.”

The upcoming exhibit at the Lancaster Museum of Art is Sawaya’s debut solo showing. However, his work is in collections including:

• The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY
• Time Warner Center public art display in New York, NY
• Qwest Field public art display in Seattle, WA
• LEGOLAND California in Carlsbad, CA
• FAO Schwarz in New York, NY
• The Toy Museum in Bellaire, OH
• The Dreier Collection in Santa Barbara, CA
• The National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, VA
• The New Orleans Public Library public art display in New Orleans, LA

Sawaya could have used paint or clay to express his art, ideas and emotions. But instead he chose the 70-year-old children’s toy made from ABS plastic. The name 'LEGO' is an abbreviation of the two Danish words "leg godt", meaning “play well”.

The brick in its present form was launched in 1958. The interlocking principle with its tubes makes it unique, and offers unlimited building possibilities. In fact, according to The LEGO Group there are actually more than 900 million different ways of combining six eight-stud bricks of the same color … ensuring Sawaya will have endless opportunities to create new art for future museum showings.

“My purpose and vision of the museum tour is to inspire children young and old to explore and challenge their own creative potential,” said Sawaya. “Until now a majority of my work has been featured online at my virtual gallery, www.brickartist.com, now anyone can get up-close and share the same physical space with my art. It’s a dream come true.”

A reception is scheduled for Friday, April 6, 2007 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The Lancaster Museum of Art is located at 135 North Lime Street. Museum hours are Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free. The museum is handicapped accessible on the first floor.

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PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST & ALSO AVAILABLE AT:

Picasa at Google

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Cindi Morrison
Lancaster Museum of Art
info@lmapa.org
717-394-3497

Courtney Simmons
Brickartist.com
info@brickartist.com
760-505-7879

LEGO is trademark of The LEGO Group.