Joseph D. Wiles, Engagement & Annual Giving Coordinator, has a unique hobby – he builds complicated, intricate Lego creations. For Wiles, lego construction has always been an interest with his first memory of Legos at the age of 8 when he received his first set for Christmas in 2006 but as he aged, Joseph found himself drifting away from his interest.
In 2022, Joseph picked up the hobby gain by sharing Lego photography posts on social media. This reignited his interest to create custom Lego builds in February of 2023. He created various characters found in movies and tv shows. He then found that he could share these builds on his own social media and at Lego events in the surrounding counties with others interested in his creations. In August 2023, Joseph wanted to expand his custom builds and design buildings and locations. A short time later, he completed his first building structure of Mitchell’s Main Building.
“I wanted to do a distinct building that represented Statesville and what better building to do than Main Building for Mitchell Community College?,” said Wiles.
Since then, Wiles has created the Main Building, Continuing Education Building, Huskins Library, Montgomery Student Union, and the Sara Tice Building. He is in the process of designing Kirkman House. Of the designs, the smaller buildings take 2-3 hours to design and around an hour to assemble. But larger designs, like the large-scale Kirkman House, can require more than 20 hours to design and build.
In his Kirkman House office, sits most of his creations.
“The fact that I get to bring Mitchell into the light and eyes of a different concept is the inspiration for me,” reflected Wiles. “As an alum and current staff member, it’s a rewarding feeling to be a part of Mitchell in another aspect, by being a Lego designer and creating these buildings around campus.”