Main Library Children's Room
New Orleans Public Library
New Orleans Rebuilt in LEGOs

When Katrina hit, LEGO decided to help restore New Orleans' kids' toyboxes and held a national campaign to collect donated LEGOs. Over eight hundred thousand were collected and LEGO matched one new LEGO brick for each donated one. The total of 1,665,200 LEGOS were distributed to students at 40 schools in New Orleans on November 17 and 18.

LEGO was also inspired by the cards and art sent by donors to create a LEGO structure that would show a re-built New Orleans, as kids from across the country envisioned it. Nathan Sawaya, a New York-based artist, was commissioned to create the structure. It took 600 hours and 200,000 LEGO bricks.

You can see the REAL thing in the Children's Room at the Main Library.

Link here to read about Nathan Sawaya, the LEGO artist.

Nathan Sawaya, shows his LEGO scupture of a re-built New Orleans to students from the Good Shepherd School at its unveiling November 17.

Good Shepherd students inspect all sides of the LEGO version of New Orleans.

Good Shepherd School Principal, Karen Ranatza, points out the yellow school building.

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12/20/2006