Date Of Visit: January 5, 2017
Location: Next to Dunkin’ Donuts, 330 Congress St, Boston, MA
Hours: Accessible everyday, 24 hours a day
Dog Friendly: Yes
Handicapped Accessible: Yes
Highlights: Art display of Lego tiles in a brick wall
You never know what you’ll see while you walk along our city streets. Statues, dog, lego walls. Yes, you read that correctly. A Lego Wall! But, this is not the first work of art to appear on a brick wall on Congress St.
Well, the display doesn’t look like a Lego display but more like a wooden cut out. The “Lego Wall” name is actually a holdover from an earlier display on Congress St.
After noticing a hole in a section of the wall on Congress St, a artist took notice and decided to do something about it. Nate Swain, a former landscape architect, stealthily filled in the gap in the wall at 342 Congress St one Sunday night with a rather unusual material, Legos.
Weeks, months passed by while people stared, pointed, giggled and maybe weven shook their heads a few times at the work of art by an anonymous artist. Until recently.
Nate Swain finally publicly came forward as the artist who created the first Lego Wall. Imagine the joy he got as he walked past the display as other passersby scratched their heads or had a chuckle. There’s nothing like being in on an inside joke.
Unfortunately, the parking lot which stood next to the Lego Wall has been closed to make way for “affordable luxury housing.” Oxymoron aside, it also meant the Lego Wall had to go.
For some time, the brick walls of Congress St laid bare without a Lego Wall or any other work of art to admire or photograph for that magtter. However, in December of 2016 a different artist decided to put her own work of art on display on Congress St.
Boston artist and writer Daisy Razor (not her real name), decided to put her own brand of art on the walls of Congress St (next to the Dunkin’ Donuts at 330 Congress St to be exact).
The art is still there as of post. But, with our weather elements and other “forces of nature” (the original Lego Wall had been vandalized at least on one occasion) it’s unclear how long it will stay there.
Fun fact: this trend of fixing up walls with Legos is not limited to the United States. German artist Jan Vormann has also used Legos to dress up some architecture he has come across in his travels.
Who would ever think there would be so much history and background to Lego art?
February 10th, 2017 at 6:14 am
As a mom whose son was addicted to legos, I am just blown away by this! Wonderful~
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February 10th, 2017 at 10:25 pm
Isn’t it great! I used to love Legos also! Thank you, Cindy.
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February 10th, 2017 at 9:01 am
I wonder if Nate Swain, landscape architect and patient wall builder, is the man for President Trump. Or if not, he could always build a wall around the White House. That would get him some publicity!
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February 10th, 2017 at 10:26 pm
Don’t give him any ideas! ( :
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February 10th, 2017 at 3:40 pm
That is so cool. My grandson would love it. People are so creative 🙂
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February 10th, 2017 at 10:32 pm
It’s also located a mere block from the Boston Children’s Museum (also on Congress St). So, you could surprise him with a trip there as well! ( :
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February 10th, 2017 at 11:09 pm
Sadly, it’s about 2500 miles away. But maybe someday. 😀
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February 12th, 2017 at 12:57 am
This is great. I did a post on the first version, and someone asked to put my pic in a Boston guidebook. So glad to see the new version now that I am not downtown anymore.
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February 12th, 2017 at 8:32 pm
That is so cool! Congrats on getting the photo published! It was a true gem. If you do get a chance I hope you get to photograph the new art! It’s on my way to work so I get to see it everyday.
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February 13th, 2017 at 4:19 pm
Haha, this is great!!
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February 14th, 2017 at 3:10 am
I love it! Thank you, Mac!
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February 14th, 2017 at 2:23 pm
😀
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February 15th, 2017 at 9:28 pm
I` ve just written a post about LEGO store in London and I found yours! I love things like that. Randomly walking around and seeing something like that. I am sure people who were passing by had a great smile on their face. Brilliant idea!
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February 15th, 2017 at 9:46 pm
Thank you! Yes it is a very nice surprise. The unfortunate thing is some people don’t even notice it because they’re so busy and they don’t stop to appreciate it
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February 16th, 2017 at 9:57 pm
Luckily we can always share it online so more people have a chance to get to know about `hidden surprises` 😛
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February 25th, 2017 at 5:29 pm
This is wonderful! I love fun and creative “graffiti”
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February 26th, 2017 at 4:26 am
Thank you, Justin! Yes, it’s a great find!
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June 22nd, 2017 at 2:36 am
[…] via Lego Wall (Boston, MA) — New England Nomad […]
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June 22nd, 2017 at 4:13 am
Thank you for linking my blog ;post to your page! I do appreciate it!
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