A new exhibit fittingly arriving in advance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month opens Wednesday at the Gail Borden Public Library in downtown Elgin.
Awesome Black Creativity is an interactive display featuring figures built with Lego bricks that represent Black people who have made huge contributions across a variety of disciplines, including the arts, sports, sciences, technology, gastronomy and activism.
The duo behind the project are Dave Kaleta and Richard Dryden, who took part in Fox TV’s “Lego Masters” in 2021 as a team of dads with a passion for environmentalism, social justice, and civic and cultural pride.
Kaleta, who lives in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, designed and built the figures, while Dryden, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, conducted the research and wrote the biographies of the people they chose to feature.
“In January 2021, I pitched the idea to Richard of a series of builds — one for each letter of the alphabet — that would highlight Black figures throughout history. We would post one each week. Then by June, we would have a completed series to display at Brickworld Chicago (in Schaumburg),” Kaleta said.
Dryden said that creating Awesome Black Creativity was far different from the models they built on “Lego Masters.”
“But one thing they both had in common was that they used the medium of Lego to educate,” he said.
After the exhibit was displayed at Brickworld Chicago, some of the figures were part of the Skaerbaek Fan Weekend in Denmark, Dryden said. After that, the exhibit moved to the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville for a month in February 2024.
In partnership with the DuPage Children’s Museum, the exhibit is now at the Gail Borden Public Library before moving on to museums and libraries across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
As for what the men hope resonates with those who view the exhibit, Dryden said they want it to evoke a sense of pride and inspiration for people of color with an emphasis on the fact that the work of those depicted should be appreciated by all.
“The figures are a snapshot of who they are, an entry point to a moment where they celebrated their craft,” he said. “Their accompanying biographies should serve as a teaching tool that urges people to learn more about their legacy, along with the industries they touched. … I hope that children and adults receive this experience with an open mind that will yield constructive conversations.”
Kaleta said, “Awesome Black Creativity is not just about amazing Lego builds, but it is also about the people who built our culture.”
While the figures depict actual people, viewers will notice they have few, if any, facial features. Dryden said that even though there are infinite possibilities when building with Lego bricks, there are still limitations with their color palette and elements.
“We would be doing a disservice to the people that we honor in this series to put facial features that aren’t 100% accurate with their likeness. The best we could do with each figure is to recreate their essence through their pose or outfits based on images we researched,” Dryden said.
Kaleta said he thinks there is also something more subconscious at work when viewers look at this exhibit.
“The analogy of windows, mirrors and sliding doors by author Rudine Sims Bishop influences how viewers see themselves through these figures. It’s a guide to telling part of their story, while allowing viewers, especially people of color, to see the potential for their own worlds,” he said.
In addition to viewing Dryden’s and Kaleta’s work, library visitors also will also have the opportunity to build with Lego bricks at freestanding design stations.
Two Lego Showcase for Kids sessions will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, and Thursday, Feb. 6, at which participants can show off and talk about their own Lego creations.
Dryden and Kaleta will be at the Elgin Library from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday to discuss what went into creating the ABC exhibit, which will be on display through Feb. 27.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
The people depicted in the Awesome Black Creativity exhibit are:
Alvin Ailey
bell hooks
Colin Kaepernick
DJ Kool Herc
Ekow Nimako
Frederick McKinley Jones
Gordon Parks
Halle Berry
Issa Rae
Janelle Monáe
Kehinde Wiley
Leah Chase
Marsha P. Johnson
Nina Simone
Oprah Winfrey
Philip Freelon
Questlove
Ryan Coogler
Sidney Poitier
Toni Morrison
Usain Bolt
Virgil Abloh
Venus & Serena Williams
Xenobia Bailey
Yasiin Bey
Zora Neale Hurston
