Green Animals Topiary Gardens hosts giant Lego sculptures this summer

PORTSMOUTH – Scattered amongst more than 80 topiaries in the shape of animals and geometric designs, flowerbeds, pathways, arbors, fruit trees, and vegetable and herb gardens at Green Animals Topiary Gardens are 14 huge LEGO sculptures created by New York-based artist Sean Kenney.

Kenney works exclusively in the medium of Lego bricks, and his Nature Connects exhibit, featuring sculptures including a farmer, a birdbath with several creatures bathing in it, and a larger-than-life Monarch butterfly will be on display at the oldest and most northern topiary garden in the United States through early September. Kenney's LEGO Bonsai tree will also be on display inside the welcome center at The Breakers in Newport.

The Preservation Society of Newport County, which owns Green Animals Topiary Garden on Cory's Lane, described the Nature Connects exhibit as "an award-winning and record-breaking exhibition that uses beautiful works of art made from simple toy blocks to explore animal endangerment, the balance of ecosystems, and mankind's relationship with nature."

"This is the only northeastern location for Nature Connects in 2023, and we know Green Animals will provide the perfect backdrop for an exhibition that explores so many aspects of the natural world. We cannot wait to see how visitors react to these remarkable and unique displays," said Trudy Coxe, CEO and executive director of The Preservation Society.

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Leslie Jones, the Preservation Society's director of museum affairs and chief curator, told The Daily News she was happy to bring a fun and educational family-forward exhibit to the topiary gardens.

"It's a self-guided experience," Jones said. "We’re going to have handouts for families to be able to look at all of the different sculptures and also understand some of the themes coming through; looking at them is beautiful, but there are also some great themes about endangered species and species coming off the endangered list."

Jim Donahue is the Preservation Society's curator of historic landscapes. He and collections care specialist Dagan Farancz were part of the team installing the sculptures. They said it took about three full days to install and assemble all 14 massive Lego sculptures, each of which was comprised of 20,000 or more Lego bricks.

That might sound like a little kid's dream job, but it is also hard work – Farancz said the butterfly was the most difficult, as in addition to being fragile and placed in a somewhat tight space, it is mounted on a steel base so heavy four people were needed to lift and position it.

The Nature Connects exhibit, along with the rest of the topiaries and grounds at Green Animals, is open daily to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 10. Entry is free for Preservation Society members, $25 for adults and $10 for kids (timed ticket due to parking constraints). Picnicking is allowed, and tickets are available at https://www.newportmansions.org/events/sean-kenneys-nature-connects/