Art Of The Brick - The Franklin Institute; Philadelphia, PA

My dearest readers - thank you for your patience. It's been awhile since I've picked up my quill, but life got life-y and many things happened.

I battled Covid.

My family and I rescued 3 four-week old kittens.

I reconnected with a childhood best friend.

I now have a boyfriend.

But I’m back! So let’s get down to it, what shall I review next? How about a science staple for the Philadelphia area: the Franklin Institute (we’re gonna call it TFI for short… because I work in the environmental field - we’re notorious for acronyms).

As a prior Girl Scout (proud Cadet here) who earned many a merit badge at TFI, I’m a big fan of the establishment. So when my boyfriend, David, asked if I’d like to go to TFI to see an exhibit about a sculpture artist whose art media was LEGO, I was thrilled! Science, art AND LEGO? Count me in!

This is now where my review will be based on the exhibit itself - not TFI in general. That will be a separate review in and of itself! The exhibit that I will be reviewing is: The Art of the Brick by artist Nathan Sawaya. I was blown away by the beauty and detail in all of the pieces of this exhibit. It was definitely worth seeing in my opinion and a fun date day activity! However I do have some criticism to share about the experience (*gasp*).

The exhibit began with LEGO versions of classic art pieces and historical artifacts, which was fun in discussing what David and I remembered from our school days. You then move into more abstract art, to replicas of real-life objects and animals. Yes, all in LEGO!

Once you finish this part of the exhibit, you were led to a very large open area filled with tables and bins of LEGO, encouraging kids to explore and create right then and there! While fun for children, and a nice breather break for parents and guardians alike, this part of the exhibit didn’t excite me and David much. It was a bit disappointing that so much space was used for free play instead of showcasing more sculptures and art.

Once clear of the open play zone, the gift shop where you exited the exhibit was shockingly underwhelming. There was a small selection of LEGO kits available for purchase and even less of a selection of merchandise for the art exhibit itself.

All in all it was a fun date day activity! David and I had some yummy dinner at the nearby Hard Rock Cafe and then enjoyed a movie on the couch to wrap up the day. I caution anyone who decide to follow our lead and visit TFI for this exhibit in particular - have another activity planned for the day as it may not take as much time to explore as you anticipated! But hurry readers, The Art of the Brick leaves TFI on November 17, 2024!

Lady Needs-To-Sit's Starfish Guide

Restroom Rundown

Upon scanning our tickets to enter the exhibit we were warned by an employee to use the bathroom now if we needed to. After seeing my puzzled expression, they went on to say that there were no restrooms available in the exhibit once you were inside. This was a bit cumbersome due to the restrooms at the exhibit entrance were down many ramps (three floors worth!). So readers beware: once you’re in the exhibit, it’ll be awhile until you see an available restroom again.

Seating Situation

Good luck finding a spot to sit down after entering this particular exhibit. It actually saddens me because the rest of TFI is so accessible when it comes to places to sit in their permanent exhibits. So it was a shame to find only one bench in the entire LEGO exhibition, and that bench being part of the artwork itself! I’m not sure if this was a fault of the creators of the traveling art exhibition or of TFI, but both should do better.

Railing, Ramps & Elevators (Oh My!)

Oh were there ramps… sooo many ramps to get to the third floor of TFI - aka where the exhibit began. Elevators were available, but since the trek was ramps instead of stairs, I chose to opt out of the elevator this time (I know, very unlikely of this mermaid!). It was quite an extensive walk to get from the lobby of TFI to the entrance of the exhibit which is understandable, but still not ideal.

Parking Lot Party

My apologies readers, I can’t properly rate TFI’s parking situation because David and I walked there! My other experiences visiting TFI were bus trips where we were conveniently let off the bus right out front! Due to this, I’m giving 3 starfish - my neutral rating.