Jacksonville Area Museum Awards Winners of Building with Brick LEGO Exhibit

More than 120 LEGO creations filled the Jacksonville Area Museum’s galleries in the old Post Office building at 301 E. State Street as the museum capped its seasonal exhibit with an awards ceremony. The ceremony took place at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1, closing out the three-month run of “Building with Brick - The Art of LEGO.”

The exhibit opened in December 2025 and ran through Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, marking the fourth-annual installment of the museum’s LEGO show. A community announcement by Dave DeMille noted the exhibit “returns Dec. 3,” and the museum’s own event listings described the display as running from December 2025 through February 2026 and featuring original and kit-based creations from builders of all ages and skill levels.

Visitors to the museum voted in person to determine winners across five contest categories: Kit Build for all ages; Jacksonville 200th, a bicentennial-themed category for all ages; and Original Build groups for ages 13 and up, ages 8–12, and ages 0–7. Voting was limited to one vote per person per day and had to be cast at the museum, a rule described in the community announcement and repeated in event listings.

Prize descriptions varied across notices. The community announcement specified that top entries would receive $100 LEGO gift cards, while the Jacksonville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau event listing said winning entrants would receive LEGO-related merchandise at the March 1 ceremony. Event material and the museum’s call for entries all agreed that public votes would determine prizes presented at the awards event.

While the exhibit was on display, the Jacksonville Area Museum kept regular hours for visitors: Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission carried no fee; the museum asked for a suggested $5 donation to help support operations. The museum’s website and its Facebook page were listed for additional information and for those interested in membership or volunteering.

The in-person, once-per-day voting system and the exhibit’s weekday and weekend hours created practical access constraints for some neighbors. Because votes had to be cast at the museum during its posted hours, residents without flexible schedules or reliable transportation may have faced barriers to participation, even as the no-fee entry and modest $5 suggested donation helped keep the exhibit broadly accessible.

The awards ceremony concluded a community-driven showcase that drew more than 120 entries and public engagement in Jacksonville’s bicentennial year programming. For more information about future exhibits or to learn about membership and volunteer opportunities, the museum lists details on its website and Facebook.