BYU's HBLL LEGO exhibit features builds with a uniquely gospel flare
Anyone who has walked through the BYU Store recently has surely stopped momentarily to see the massive LEGO model of the Brigham Young Academy Building (now the Provo Library). It's an impressive sight, but for LEGO enthusiasts who need more bricks, it's time to head to the Harold B. Lee Library.
There, in the Special Collections O.C. Tanner exhibit area on the first floor, is a LEGO exhibition with a uniquely gospel tie. From LEGO re-creations of paintings of the Savior to model replicas of iconic LDS temples, “Brick upon Brick: Creativity in the Making” is an exhibit like no other.
Running through July 20, the exhibit includes some truly unique LDS creations that are also incredibly detailed (and occasionally quite large), including:
- A stunning replica of the Washington D.C. Temple whose golden spires reach more than 5 feet tall
- An artful LEGO mosaic of Harry Anderson’s beloved Gospel Library painting, The Second Coming
- Dave Jungheim’s highly-detailed model replica of the Salt Lake Temple, made up of 25,000 bricks
- Jen Raine Smart's 2023 "Image of Christ" LEGO mosaic
- A LEGO Salt Lake Tabernacle that took 1,200 hours to build and is made up of 24,000 bricks
- The first known set of Latter-day Saint missionary minifigures — both named “Elder Smith”
- A Joseph Smith Memorial Building that took two years to research, design and build and includes 97,000 LEGO bricks
For reference, the two largest official LEGO sets are the LEGO Art World Map (11,000 pieces) and the LEGO Eiffel tower (10,001 pieces). The LEGO Titanic is the third biggest set in terms of size with 9,090 bricks, while the wildly popular LEGO Millennium Falcon has a measly 7,541 bricks.
“For the last 50 years, one of the most accessible and universally understood means of creation has been the LEGO or plastic brick,” said exhibit curator Trevor Alvord, an associate librarian at BYU. “Latter-day Saints’ use of LEGO and building brick toys as an artistic medium keeps increasing, mirroring the same growth and popularity of the toy manufacturers.”
