BYO Kids, Wine, or Weed?: The Art of the Brick at OMSI

“Papa! You didn’t bring the snack I wanted!” I’m the only dad on the playground, so I’m self-conscious already. I don’t want to be at the center of a scene. I’ve tried to be prepared. I packed a shit ton of food, and this kid approved it all before we left.

“But I brought the snacks you asked for, didn’t I? You want something else?” There’s more here. Cheese sticks and pretzels and a protein bar. Chocolate milk of course. She’ll have none of it.

“Paaaapaaaa! I don’t want these. I want what she has.”

“But I didn’t bring what she has, and we can’t eat someone else’s food.”

“Well, you should have gotten what she has! That’s what I want.”

In this moment I realize no matter how much I prepare, I’ll never have everything we need for a trip to the playground, or the museum, or the park, because I could never pack everything everyone else has. We will always be wanting.

So I’ve tried to simplify. If we’ll never have enough let’s just bring the essentials. One slice of swish cheese, one handful of cashews, and one 16oz bottle of water is all we ever leave the house with, which is why we can never travel more than 30 miles away from home at any one time.

I do try to take in as much culture as possible in our tiny radius, and I still try to be equipped as possible for any situation. With this in mind Splimm is launching our brand new column devoted to parent preparedness, BYO Kids, Wine, or Weed, where we take a look at some fun, could-be-family-friendly events in states where it’s legally allowed to enjoy cannabis as a responsible parent.

 

Where are we going?

The Art of the Brick by Nathan Sawaya, currently on display at OMSI in Portland through the end of May 2017.

 

 

What are we looking at?

So much artsy Lego!

Nathan Sawaya is an Oregon-born artist who attended NYU and practiced corporate law in New York before gaining worldwide recognition for his 3D Lego sculptures.

 

 

The exhibit opens with Lego recreations of famous paintings, like Van Gogh’s Starry Night and the Mona Lisa, before transitioning into 3D recreations of works like The Scream or Klimpt’s The Kiss. There’s a giant Easter Island Moai, a guy lifting his own head off, a massive T-Rex skeleton.  The Art of the Brick is laid out like a classic museum, with artwork group together as you might see at The Met or The Smithsonian, only everything is made from familiar plastic toy parts. Because Sawaya is from Portland he’s even created something extra special for his “homecoming”.

 

 

BYO…

 

Kids?

Our 9-year-old aspiring artist and current loud mouth loved this thing. Because we’re shitty hipsters we’ve been taking our kid to houses of art since we could strap her to our chest, so this was a great merging of worlds. Toys and art and science. It’s big but not huge, and your kids should find plenty waiting in each room to keep the excited for what comes next. There’s even a room for building at the very end.

 

 

Of course it concludes with a trip through the gift shop, where you can buy Legos, or T shirts with pictures of Legos on them.

 

Wine? 

These things look fragile. I would be very careful consuming alchol and then venturing into The Art of the Brick. Though OMSI does have an “after dark” program where they invite you to leave your kids at home and get a little drunk around the science, I wouldn’t risk drinking around all these Legos. The one’s that don’t look so brittle seem like they could do real damage if you stumbled into them.

 

 

Weed?

Totes bring weed! This exhibit was made for it. This is a traveling exhibit, and Splimm never advocates breaking any laws or endangering any children. We’re just saying, that if you live in a place where medical cannabis is legal, and consuming an edible helps you deal with pain, and when you consume that edible you’re less intoxicated than from a traditional prescription painkiller, and more able to be present with your child, then go ahead and take your medicine and don’t feel like a bad parent.