February 10, 2017

Lego Wall (Boston, MA)

By New England Nomad

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

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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?

About New England Nomad

Hi I'm Wayne. Welcome to my blog. I am a true New Englander through and through. I love everything about New England. I especially love discovering new places in New England and sharing my experiences with everyone. I tend to focus on the more unique and lesser known places and things in New England on my blog. Oh yeah, and I love dogs. I always try to include at least one dog in each of my blog posts. I discovered my love of photography a couple of years ago. I know, I got a late start. Now, I photograph anything that seems out of the ordinary, interesting, beautiful and/or unique. And I have noticed how every person, place or thing I photograph has a story behind it or him or her. I don't just photograph things or people or animals. I try to get their background, history or as much information as possible to give the subject more context and meaning. It's interesting how one simple photograph can evoke so much. I am currently using a Nikon D3200 "beginner's camera." Even though there are better cameras on the market, and I will upgrade some time, I love how it functions (usually) and it has served me well. The great thing about my blog is you don't have to be from New England, or even like New England to like my blog (although I've never met anyone who doesn't). All you have to like is to see and read about new or interesting places and things. Hopefully, you'll join me on my many adventures in New England! View all posts by New England Nomad
This entry was posted on Friday, February 10th, 2017 at 4:33 am and tagged with , , , , , , and posted in art, Boston, New England, photographs, photography, photos, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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