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Posted on Sun, Mar 25, 2012 : 10:49 a.m.

Celebrating Lego at Ann Arbor's 'Brick Bash'

By Angela Smith

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Lego aficionado from around Ann Arbor and beyond assembled for the annual Brick Bash Exhibit at Washtenaw Community College on Saturday.

The event attracted vendors, enthusiasts, and fans from Toronto, Chicago, and Southeast Michigan, as they eagerly shared their creative constructions with hundreds of visitors.

“It all started when I got my box of Lego back from my mother,” explains Duane Collicott, organizer of Brick Bash. "Nothing I built was big enough.”

Collicott shared the Lego with his sons, and he and his wife, teacher Allison Collicott, marveled at the creativity that the play encouraged.

Shortly after he attended a Lego event in Chicago, “I came back and said we need something like this in Ann Arbor.”

Collicott formed a non-profit organization, Bricks for Brains, and the Brick Bash is the organization’s main event each year.

The creations on display ranged from 2 foot square Lego mosaics of famous artistic works to large cities with working trains and lights, to small projects shared by local kids.

Aleks Oslapas of Dearborn said this was his second year attending as an exhibitor. The 14-year-old calls his knack for Lego a hidden talent, and he brought a Lego Village and a WWII reenactment scene along to display. Neither was made from a kit.

Oslapas estimates he has up to 100,000 Lego pieces at home, and is inspired by TV shows (like "Band of Brothers"), or things he sees in his everyday life. He gets most of his Lego pieces on line oor at specialty Lego stores. Brick Bash is a chance to share his work.

“It's fun to bring out stuff to display and talk to people about the displays. It’s a great free event.”

Zander Albercook, a 13-year-old student at Ann Arbor Open School, attended both as a fan and exhibitor for the locally run summer camp series, Rocks and Robots.

“Rocks and Robots is a summer camp for ages 7 - 17; the rocks part - we go rock climbing where we do outdoor activities and team building, problem solving, that kind of stuff. Then you get to come in and build robots using NXT sets, and program them on the computer.”

Albercook participates and helps out as a camp counselor for the organization, founded by his father, teacher George Albercook. He readily admits to building with Lego every day.

“I like to build the sets from the Star Wars series.”

Brick Bash invites sponsors like local schools like Summers-Knoll, and small Lego vendors like etsy’s Abbie Dabbles to participate in the exhibit.

But the main attraction for many local attendees seems to be Collicott’s personal Lego collection that he spreads out along tables through the center of the exhibit hall.

“I love all this Lego!” a preschooler cheers, as her mom takes a photo with her camera phone.

Angela Smith is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com.

Comments

Shelly

Mon, Mar 26, 2012 : 4:53 p.m.

My kids would've absolutely enjoyed this, had we known about it ahead of time. How can we find out about events like this before they happen?

Angela Smith

Mon, Mar 26, 2012 : 5:04 p.m.

Hi Shelly, See my reply to the commenter above: The current events calendar showed this listing before the event: http://annarbor.com/events/brick-bash-2012/ The intent of this piece was to share some of the photos and comments of people and works that were present. Mr. Collicott said he fully intends there to be another Brick Bash next year. The event has been in March at WCC, annually.

A2comments

Mon, Mar 26, 2012 : 10:26 a.m.

oor at?

slaumar

Sun, Mar 25, 2012 : 9:52 p.m.

why not report on these events BEFORE they happen so readers can actually attend?

Angela Smith

Mon, Mar 26, 2012 : 11:53 a.m.

The current events calendar showed this listing before the event: http://annarbor.com/events/brick-bash-2012/ The intent of this piece was to share some of the photos and comments of people and works that were present. Mr. Collicott said he fully intends there to be another Brick Bash next year. The event has been in March at WCC, annually.

DennisP

Mon, Mar 26, 2012 : 8:45 a.m.

Yeah, I agree. I look for events on these online papers and never find anything outside of the latest rock or techno event at a bar. Then I scroll down and find a report on something that's already past that I would have loved to attend. Always after the fact. I guess if the event doesn't pay, it won't get any free advertising until the show's over...

Susan Montgomery

Sun, Mar 25, 2012 : 9:22 p.m.

Hey, Duane, thanks for sharing your love of Legos with the community, looks like it was another awesome event this year. Those of you who have been to the Grand Traverse lighthouse might recognize Duane's Lego reproduction that is displayed at the lighthouse, seen at http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/62591

Duane Collicott

Sun, Mar 25, 2012 : 10:35 p.m.

Thank you, Susan. It is a pleasure to see all those people having fun with LEGO. Part of the reason for creating Brick Bash was to "evangelize" the hobby and to show adults that it's OK to come out of the closet and admit to playing with the "toy" themselves. My eight-foot long model of the 1000-foot Great Lakes freighter Steward J Cort will be joining the display up at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse for a year beginning Memorial Day weekend.

Duane Collicott

Sun, Mar 25, 2012 : 7:06 p.m.

Many thanks to this year's sponsors who made it possible for us to continue this great, free event: Rocks & Robots, Summers-Knoll School, Greenhills School, Ann Arbor Christian School, and Brain Monkeys.

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