Stan Munro might be the largest consumer of toothpicks in the world, but oral hygiene is the last thing on his mind. In fact, when he buys toothpicks he orders a certain type (square with round ends) in quantities of thousands, by the box.
Munro’s business card identifies him as an “Artist/Toothpick Engineer.” Every day for the past five years, he has gone to a large open room area at Eastview Mall — filled with sculptures of buildings and objects of every size and type imaginable — to create more of his latest sculptures.
It’s known as Toothpick World.
All this seeming madness began when Munro was in elementary school and his art teacher gave an assignment to assemble a toothpick structure that could withstand the weight of an average egg. Munro began the project in earnest, studying the ideal design that would support the weight. He finally determined that a three-story, pagoda-shaped structure made with lots of triangles would be ideal. The finished structure was about 10 inches tall. Soon, Munro was in the classroom testing his idea.
Not only did Munro’s design beat all the other students’ entries, the class added the weight of a book, then several books, and then an upside down desk. Munro’s project held steady under the added weight, earning the class’s cheers as well as the admiration — and several longing glances — of a certain young lady in the class, something he admits he was not accustomed to at the time.
Alas, the things of youth, including toothpick art projects, gave way to adulthood and things like making a living. There was no “toothpick construction” major in college, so Munro became a TV journalist. He married a doctor and the couple got two spoiled Shih Tzus, P’nut Butter and Jeli. In 2002, Munro’s wife, Suzi, was diagnosed with a rare kidney and liver disorder, which required a kidney transplant as well as daily in-house dialysis.
The diagnosis required Munro to quit his job so he could take care of his wife and make sure she received her treatments. When Suzi was resting or otherwise occupied, Munro started looking for something to do. Having heard about his long ago elementary project, Suzi suggested a return to toothpick construction. Why not? All Munro needed was toothpicks and a bottle of Elmer’s Glue. The only question was what to build.
Suzi suggested a recreation of her favorite building and New York City’s Art Deco masterpiece, the Chrysler Building, and that became project number one. Over the past 23 years, Munro has completed more than 200 structures, including everything from the U.S. Capitol to London Bridge, and everything in between. (Meanwhile, Suzi is alive, fully recovered and doing well.)
Munro’s sculptures are built to an exacting 1/164 scale, which means each project takes almost as long to plan as it does to actually construct. It also requires some buildings to end up as tall as 16 feet (Burj Khalifa), and as wide as 50 feet (Golden Gate Bridge), each built one toothpick at a time.
“The detail I try to achieve with each of my projects often requires more than just a casual visit and a few photographs,” Munro said. “Frequently, I have to get detailed construction drawings and plans to be able to look past the exterior and its aesthetics for recreation of the exterior, as well as making it as sturdy as possible.”
The last point is important, since many of Munro’s structures are shipped and eventually displayed in libraries, museums, corporate offices and special showings around the world, though weight is almost never a problem since even the largest of his creations can be moved easily by one person, and with one hand. As Munro works, his attention is glued (pun intended) to the meticulous process of placing each toothpick — his breathing slow and measured, almost as if he is in meditation.
“Towers are easy,” he said. “It’s when I started building temples and churches of different religions and cultures that building became a lot more difficult.”
Of all the buildings he has created, Munro is most proud of his recreation of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família — translated “Sacred Family” — a cathedral started by the architect Antonio Gaudí in 1883 and worked on until his death in 1926. While the actual cathedral is still under construction and probably will be for years to come, Munro completed his sculpture using Gaudí’s original sketches.
“I get hold of everything I can to eliminate guesswork,” he said. “Satellite photos, schematics, specs, blueprints and anything else.”
Other houses of worship Munro has created include The Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, the Vatican, Mecca’s Grand Mosque and a series of Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, Baha’i and Maya temples sitting side-by-side, for once, peacefully. And no project of Munro’s is complete until he signs it: “I (heart) Suzi.”
“I got that idea when I learned that workers on the actual Empire State Building wrote their names inside the building when they finished working,” he said. ”I decided to do the same thing on mine, but my name isn’t the one that’s important. It’s all for Suzi.”
Looking at Munro’s collection from over the years, it’s hard not to be awed by the wide variety of designs he has created — and that’s just the buildings. In another part of the room are other sculptures: cars, trains, spacecraft and even reproductions of “Star Wars” vehicles. Munro estimates that he has used about five million toothpicks over the years, and five of his creations are listed in “Guinness World Records.”
“What is seen here is only about half,” said Munro. “A lot of it is in storage and some of it can go out to another museum. What we’re really hoping is that Disney will take it on.”
At the end of each Toothpick World tour, attendees are given a wooden nickel made out of — what else? — toothpicks. Vending machines won’t take them, but they sure are fun to have.
“When you put your whole heart and soul into something, you can accomplish virtually anything,” he said, “even building another world out of toothpicks.” toothpickworld.com
Michael Michelson, Jr. is a contributor to CITY.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
