Awesome Black Creativity

Based on an award-winning, museum-exhibited art project, this one-of-a-kind A-Z gallery features 27 portraits of cultural icons reimagined in LEGO, from Toni Morrison and Sidney Poitier to Serena and Venus Williams.

Richard Dryden and Dave Kaleta connected in 2020 over a shared passion for LEGO® bricks, creative expression, and the pursuit of equality. The following year, they competed together on Season 2 of Fox’s LEGO® Masters, and their collaboration continued beyond the show. Awesome Black Creativity began as a 26-week Instagram series and grew into an award-winning museum exhibit that has toured the U.S. and Europe, earning recognition from the Estate of Nina Simone and the attention of Questlove along the way.

This book is the fullest expression of that project yet.

Together theyve created twenty-seven LEGO® portraits of the Black creatives, activists, and athletes who shaped our culture, paired with original biographical essays that give each figure the depth their legacy deserves. Dave Kaletas signature Miniland Plus building style brings an artistic seriousness to the medium that goes well beyond what most people imagine when they think of LEGO®. Richard Drydens writing, rooted in years of covering Black music, art, and culture for Complex, The FADER, and others, brings the same seriousness to the stories themselves.

Notice that none of the figures have faces. Thats intentional. Every faceless build is an invitation to see yourself in these legends: Alvin Ailey, bell hooks, DJ Kool Herc, Kehinde Wiley, Toni Morrison, Marsha P. Johnson, the Williams Sisters, and the twenty others who fill these pages.

From the creators of the ABC traveling museum exhibit, in partnership with DuPage Children’s Museum.

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies, which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this book.