Today I would like to introduce you to a LEGO artist who turned his hobby into a profession. Jason Burik is actually a middle-school math teacher based in Pittsburg, but in his spare time he builds LEGO models for others. His specialty is LEGO replicas of sport-stadiums, company and college team logos, and individual homes. 🙂
Jason has been a life-long LEGO fan, and just like most young kids spent his time building his own LEGO creations. Then one day he decided to try something more challenging, and he constructed a built-to-scale model of his parents’ home using pictures and blue-prints. The finished project was not only self-rewarding for Jason, but also appreciated by family and friends.
Jason’s first commissioned LEGO project came while he was in collage; he created a miniature version of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team’s ballpark. Jason liked the idea of doing commissioned work and started his own company Burik Model Design. Since then he built LEGO models for professional sports teams, large corporations, universities, hospitals, public schools and museums. Below is an interview with Jason by a local news channel highlighting his LEGO projects.
The next progression for Jason was to teach his LEGO building skills to others. As a teacher he was already skilled working with kids, so he thought about starting LEGO building camps. Jason now works with schools, libraries, community centers and offices to run camps. The camps give students the opportunity to construct everything from the replica of their school to famous landmarks, bridges, holiday decorations, logos and more. While building with LEGO they also learn about architecture, engineering, math, photography, journal writing, teamwork and a host of other skills. There are also LEGO building competitions and other fun activities.
As you can see, it is not necessary to give up LEGO as you get older – something a lot of young LEGO fans worry about. If you really like to build with LEGO and have the desire to continue, you can successfully transition your favorite childhood pastime into an adult hobby or even a profession.
If you would like to see more of Jason’s work or interested having something built for your company, business, or family, you can contact him through his website at BurikModelDesign.com. And if you have any questions about his LEGO models or the LEGO camps he runs in his community, feel free to ask in the comment section below. He will stop by to answer them. 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
Thanks for posting, admin!
As for the cam
Sorry, accidentally hit post.
I meant to say that as for the camps, does he teach AFOL Moc techniques or just basic techniques?
Thanks!
Legozebra
I’m sure that very much depends on the kids who show up. If a bunch of kids participate who are new to LEGO it wouldn’t make sense to teach them advanced techniques. However if the kids are on an advanced level already, he can take them further with greater challenges and more complex projects.
WOW! That is so cool. One of the biggest problems for teachers today, is to find a common ground to teach students. What would be a fun learning tool for both teachers and students. LEGO is it .
Yes, actually a lot of schools use LEGO as a tool for teaching their curriculum. LEGO in fact have special sets just for school teachers. 😉
Great article! I loved the part, “As you can see, it is not necessary to give up LEGO as you get older – something a lot of young LEGO fans worry about. If you really like to build with LEGO and have the desire to continue, you can successfully transition your favorite childhood pastime into an adult hobby or even a profession.” because right now I am having this problem. What a coincidence! I decided I don’t really care how old I am, I still love LEGO, why should I stop! 🙂
Yeah, I’m going to continue with Lego too. I think one of the biggest problems for kids who like Lego is that their parents don’t and think it’s a baby toy (the only baby-LEGO is DUPLO, however). 😕
I’m lucky with that problem, my parents aren’t into LEGO, but they are completely ok with me being into it!
I think there are plenty of adult fans now doing amazing stuff that can be presented to parents to dispute that idea. 😉
I wish…. But my dad will argue against it and call LEGO fans nerds and losers. Yet he still wants the Emerald Night 10194 train. He contradicts himself, it seems. 🙂
Christopher, thanks for sharing. Yeah, if you like the hobby there is absolutely no reason to give it up. Lots of kids, teens and adult enjoy the hobby building amazing things, and none of them had their head explode or any other bad thing happen to them. 😉
Hey, did you know that some nursing homes have the elderly use LEGO to help with their motor skills. So, I can be one hundred and twelve years old and still build with LEGO. ( Of course I wouldn’t remember my name at that age.)
Cool. Now we don’t have to worry about missing out on my favorite hobby when we get old! 😛
I’m building at 32. My brother builds at 44 (hes a classic space man). Im using lego to help my sons hand eye coordination and he’s 3 1/2. My daughter is just 1 and loves duplo….
So yes keep doing it as long as it brings you pleasure.
Extremely unhappy with the order I received from Jason Burik@ Burik Model Design. The quality on his web site is NOT the quality I received.
It would be best if you reach out to Jason directly to resolve any issues that you might have experienced. I did forward your comment to Jason so he can be aware of it. Wishing you the best in resolving whatever problem you have. 🙂