Award-Winning LEGO Creations

Maia Weinstock is internationally known for her custom-designed LEGO projects. Many of her creations — including Women of NASA, a LEGO Ideas-winning and Amazon best-selling set — highlight and celebrate accomplished women, particularly those in science and engineering.

Women of NASA
Maia’s Women of NASA debuted on LEGO Ideas in 2016 and achieved 10,000 supporters in only 15 days. The project experienced several viral media moments, including LEGO’s 2017 announcement of its plan to sell a version of Maia’s design. The resulting set launched worldwide later that year and immediately became the best-selling toy on Amazon. Maia’s original Women of NASA prototype later joined the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and minifigures from the Women of NASA set have thrice flown to space!

Women of Computing
Maia’s Women of Computing, honoring six pioneers of computer science and technology, debuted on LEGO Ideas in March 2021. The project became a LEGO Ideas finalist after achieving 10,000 supporters in just two months.

Legal Justice League
The Legal Justice League became the subject of national news after its debut on International Women’s Day 2015. The set features the first four women to serve as justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. A copy of the set that Maia gave to Justice O’Conner is now in the U.S. Supreme Court building, while a framed version of the minifigs that Maia gave to Justice Ginsburg was later donated by her children to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Maia’s related Legal Justice Team competed on LEGO Ideas.

Editorial Features
Maia’s LEGO creations have been featured in a number of editorial projects. Among them: Her Women of NASA LEGO set served as the basis for Space Heroes, a children’s book published by LEGO and DK. It was also highlighted in Smithsonian American Women, a book featuring objects in U.S. women’s history held by the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, and in Space Craze by National Air and Space Museum curator Margaret Weitekamp. One of Maia’s LEGO Scitweep figures was showcased in a cover article about MIT biomedical engineer Sangeeta Bhatia for Brown Alumni Magazine. And her custom minifigure of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared in a popular book, Notorious RBG.

Carolyn Porco: Flying to Saturn
Maia’s very first custom LEGO minifigure, designed in the likeness of planetary scientist Carolyn Porco, was also the protagonist of her first stop-motion film. In 2011 she used LEGO elements and a hand-crafted set to recreate Porco’s TED Talk on NASA’s Cassini mission to the Saturn system.

Women of Apollo
In July 2019, Maia honored some of the many women who contributed to NASA’s Apollo Project, as a way to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission, which landed humans on the moon for the first time.

Scitweeps
Maia’s collection of scientists, engineers, and science popularizers includes a number of photos with the real-life individuals she depicted as LEGO minifigs.

The Bioneers
Maia’s late 2015 LEGO Ideas entry featured the likenesses of five pioneering biological, medical, or chemical engineers — Paula Hammond, Sangeeta Bhatia, Jennifer Doudna, Emmanuelle Charpentier, and Carolyn Bertozzi. Three of these esteemed scholars have since won Nobel Prizes!

Album Covers
Music soothes the soul; so does LEGO! Here is Maia’s collection of custom-designed album cover recreations.