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For 50 years the Saskatchewan Games have provided an opportunity for the province’s developing athletes, coaches, and officials to participate in a multi-sport event to prepare for a higher level of competition. This year was no different, with the Games taking place in Saskatchewan's capital city - Regina for the first time! From billboards and radio ads to social media campaigns and special events, the marketing team worked to promote the Games. However, amidst all the festivities, there is one attraction that continues to entertainment the imagination of locals and visitors - the Saskatchewan Games Lego display! This is the first time the multi-sport games have been brought to life in Lego. The Saskatchewan Lego Users Group (SLUG) crafted the display and it's displayed at the Regina International Airport (YQR) until the beginning of May. With its intricate designs and attention to detail, this display showcases the rich history of the Games in a whole new way.

Eager to learn more about the Saskatchewan Games display, we contacted the Saskatchewan Lego Users Group and received a response from Jim Jo, the lead on the project. The full Sask Winter Games lego gallery can be viewed here (scroll to the bottom)!

Q1: What inspired the team to create this LEGO display, and how did you come up with the idea to showcase the Saskatchewan Games through LEGO bricks?
A: One of the members of SLUG noted that our planned changeover at the YQR would fall before the Sask Winter Games started and suggested it as the next theme. We agreed it was a good idea for a collaborative display that would showcase our different builder's styles and an important aspect of our province.

Q2: How many people were involved in creating the display?
A: 14 SLUG members were involved in creating builds for the Sask Winter Games display at YQR.

Q3: Can you tell me why the team picked the winter sports you did?
A: I used the Sask Games website to find a list of sports that would be part of the games. The intent was to have one build for each sport and allowed builders to sign up for their sport of interest. Some builders offered to make more than one build to ensure each sport was part of the display, and we ensured that the noted paralympic and Special Olympic sports were represented as well.

Q4: What was everyone’s favourite part about creating this display?
A: I can speak for myself... I built the artistic swimming build. For me, the challenge was to try to build the complex and organic shapes of human legs from regular, sharp, angular lego bricks. The lady who sits next to me at work has a daughter who spent years participating in artistic swimming, so it was a great help (and a challenge) to have her input on the details of the build. 

Q5: Are there any specific details or elements of the display that the team was proud of compared to other displays SLUG has created?
A: Doing a collaboration, especially with 14 members, takes a lot of organization and sometimes some "encouraging". We had to make sure each sport was built and ready for the changeover date at the YQR. We specified that each build should show athletes but that builders should pick a scale that would best represent the sport in question. We were all impressed with how each sport was translated into a different scale through the lens of the artist. For example, the Special Olympics Bowling build used a large, almost cartoon-like brick-built figure, whereas speedskating was standard Lego minifigure scale, and alpine skiing used microfigure trophies as people. 
 

Q6: How long did it take to build this display, and how many LEGO bricks were used in the construction?
A: These are the two most common questions we are asked, and the two most difficult to answer. Some of our builders likely completed their build in a single evening of focused building. Artistic swimming took several nights. Together I would predict dozens to hundreds of hours were collectively spent, and thousands of bricks of all shapes, sizes, and colours are part of this collaborative display.

Q7: Did the team face any challenges or obstacles while building this display, and how did everyone overcome them?
A: Several of the builders had issues building sturdy yet posable figures to represent the athletes. For Lego, sturdiness and posability are typically mutually exclusive. Two of our builders found pictures of a 4 inch tall brick built figure that was articulated much like an action figure and reverse engineered it for the badminton build. They shared their reverse engineered design with me and another builder, and we modified it to work for gymnastics. Then I shared the design with yet another builder who used it to overcome issues with posing her figure skaters. One of my favourite things about SLUG is that we share ideas and learn from each other, and we all become better builders as a result!  Every builder has different levels of experience, different aptitudes, and different styles and this diversity is one of the best learning tools we have. 

Q8: How often does SLUG create displays at YQR, or other places around Saskatchewan?
A: We started the airport displays last year. We hope this partnership is a sign that our displays are popular with the public. Generally, we attend one show per month. Most of these shows are other events hosted by other organizations at which we are guests, such as the train shows or comic expos. We also have three of our own shows throughout the year, culminating in our flagship event, Brickspo, annually at the end of July. Please follow us at sluglife.social on Instagram or Saskatchewan Lego Users Group on Facebook to find out where we are going to be.  

Thank you to the Saskatchewan Lego Users Group for bringing their unique and creative Saskatchewan Games display to life. Their dedication and hard work have helped promote and create conversations around the Games. The contributions to the 50th Anniversay and Sask Winter Games celebrations will be remembered and cherished for years to come!