New attraction coming to Botanica: Giant Lego sculptures

Something new is coming to Botanica next summer — and it’s more than a fresh crop of annuals.

Eighteen large-scale Lego sculptures will be installed at the gardens from May 7 to Sept. 19, 2019, as part of a touring exhibition called “Nature Connects.”

Botanica announced the exhibition last Friday with a Lego-themed float in the Sundown Parade at Riverfest.

The Lego sculptures were created by New York-based artist Sean Kenney, a professionally certified Lego sculptor.

Kenney has constructed giant insects, plants and animals entirely out of Legos, and those sculptures will be installed in the gardens. The exhibition has been touring in zoos and gardens across the country as well as internationally.

The largest sculpture, a bison, is made of 45,143 Lego pieces.

It will be the first time Botanica has hosted a traveling art exhibit in its gardens — which officials hope will draw visitors to the gardens during the hot summer.

“(Traveling exhibits) are something that we’ve always wanted to get into, but (we) just could never quite find the right one,” said Kathy Sweeney, director of special events at Botanica. “This is definitely a direction that we want to go.”

Botanica also plans to expand on its popular Tuesdays on the Terrace music series next summer, according to Sweeney.

The gardens will be open late Tuesdays through Thursdays, with live music planned on both Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The gardens, as well as the Lego sculptures, will be illuminated with some of the string lights traditionally reserved for its popular Illuminations event, Sweeney said.

On Wednesday evenings next summer, Botanica is planning a series of family nights, she said.

During those evening hours, admission to the gardens will be $10 or $5 for members.

And if the sculptures leave you feeling particularly inspired, Botanica will have 30,000 loose Lego pieces available for families to play with. The best sculptures will be added to a “kid gallery” in the garden, Sweeney said.

Botanica is currently working on securing traveling exhibitions in 2020 and 2021 to follow “Nature Connects,” Sweeney said.

This story was originally published June 5, 2018 at 5:50 AM with the headline "New attraction coming to Botanica: Giant Lego sculptures."