The Lego Discovery Center in Springfield has a new addition: Vincent van Gogh’s famous “Starry Night” in Lego form, celebrating the 135th anniversary of the painting’s creation. Making this replica even more unique? A DC-inspired twist. Using over 24,000 bricks in colors of yellow, blue, and pink, Master Model Builder Andrew Litterst created a backdrop of swirling stars set behind the skyline of Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument.
This isn’t Litterst’s only DC-Lego mashup. In late 2022, he built a Lego recreation of the National Mall, with Darth Vader filling President Lincoln’s seat at the Lincoln Memorial. That creation eventually helped Litterst, then a high school science teacher in Fairfax County, land his dream job.
Last spring, he delighted Washingtonians with a Lego Stumpy, a miniature version of the scrawny-but-beloved Tidal Basin cherry tree that was removed in May as part of a reconstruction project. For a finishing touch, Litterst added four Lego park rangers bowing down to the iconic tree.
“My dad is a park ranger at the National Mall and he was actually the one that broke the news that Stumpy was being torn down,” he told Washingtonian. “So I built that to kind of poke fun at him.”
LEGO Stumpy!
LEGO Master Model Builder Andrew Litterst created this tongue-in-cheek Stumpy scene which is now part of the display at the LDC in Springfield. Andrew is the son of Mike Litterst, communications chief for the National Mall and Memorial Parks. pic.twitter.com/8JRVikeAzs
— Kevin Ambrose (@dcstormchaser) March 16, 2024
Inspired by his “Starry Night” Lego piece, Litterst is now in what he calls his “art phase, Renaissance era.” He has plans to create an art gallery at the Discovery Center, replicating more famous paintings in Lego form—in fact, he’s just completed a version of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”
“Whatever I end up doing next will probably have another DC twist on it, because with the Starry Night painting, it turned out really well,” Litterst says. “I’m really happy with it.”
