Jeremy Joseph is building community in Easton, brick by brick.
Since 2020, Joseph has built Easton favorites out of Lego for his project, “Brick Easton.”
His creations have ranged from minifigure depictions of local Eastonians to Lego constructions of Sweet Girlz Bakery and the State Theatre. In 2022, he created a two-minute stop-motion film of the Easton Peace Candle lighting, complete with a Lego winter village and a Lego ice sculptor. One of his models is displayed in the office window of state Rep. Robert Freeman, who represents Easton.
“What seems to be a childish, little, kind of silly thing, I feel is very deep and has allowed me to create trusted partnerships with business leaders, politicians, musicians, artists, the community,” Joseph said. “What that’s enabling me to do now is to do bigger and better things for the community.”
“There’s a philosophy behind this,” he continued. “There’s a deliberate philosophy about wanting to affect change in the world and bring light into the dark.”
Joseph said the project started during the pandemic, as a way to keep him and his Big Easy Easton Brass bandmates connected.
“Covid took the rug out from under us and I wanted to keep us talking,” Joseph said of the band.
So, he decided to recreate every member of the band with Lego minifigures customized to look like them.
“I got to see how much people really love their minifigure — they felt like they were being immortalized,” Joseph said. “There’s this emotional connection to this little, simple thing.”
“This created such a good feeling for the band in a dark time,” he continued.
Next, Joseph made the Two Rivers Brewing Company building out of Lego. Each floor of the model showcases the current Easton community or a phase in Easton’s history.
“The power of this is that I could recreate these Easton places,” Joseph said. “But make minifigures of the real people and try to take all the best of the city and celebrate it.”
“That was the big thing,” he continued. “Making the people, the real people.”
Joseph makes about one or two Lego models a year, but the work has won him attention and accolades nonetheless. At the 2024 Peace Candle lighting, Joseph won the Gretchen Wrenshall Award for community service.
Beyond Brick Easton and Big Easy Easton Brass, Joseph created a documentary of the State Theatre Center for the Arts. He plans to premiere this in April for the theater’s 99th birthday. Now, Joseph is building Easton’s West Ward Drumline for the kids of Easton. He wants to give them a safe space and hopes to use the drumline as a platform to build community.
“It’s definitely a labor of love,” Joseph said.