COLUMBUS, Ind. — Design presentations for the late summer and fall Exhibit Columbus exhibition will be done online March 19 and March 26.
Presentations will be grouped on each of those dates according to physical locations of the planned, creative structures around the city, according to Anne Surak, Exhibit Columbus’ director. She said there will be a pair of two-hour sessions on each date to allow people to better pick and choose what they wish to watch.
“Each time, we have done things a little differently,” Surak said.
One change this time will be that all viewers must register beforehand through Eventbrite in order to watch the free presentations. During last year’s virtual symposium, people could simply join the audience online on Facebook or YouTube.com.
This third exhibition highlighting the interplay of Columbus’ best-known Modernist structures with temporary, pop-up architecture from some of the world’s leading designers will begin with opening celebration events Aug. 20-22 under the theme “New Middles.”
The inaugural exhibition in 2017 attracted an estimated 40,000 people and untold global attention via social media and dozens of respected media sites. The second exhibition in 2019 attracted an estimated 30,000 people.
Richard McCoy, executive director of the parent Landmark Columbus Foundation, called the presentations “a rare look into the design process by leaders in the field.” In 2019, the presentations attracted more than 300 people to The Commons even on a day of severe winter weather and snow that kept away some university groups and others.
Surak was asked how many viewers the latest presentations could attract. The question is significant since some parts of last year’s symposium drew 3,000 people internationally.
“I don’t exactly know that yet,” Surak said. “But I do know that this will be a good chance for university students to see design presentations.”
Consequently, Surak and her staff will be marketing the events to a broad range of universities.
In the design presentations, people will see concepts of planned structures from the five J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize recipients, each at key downtown locations. Also, they’ll see concepts from the seven University Design Research Fellows, and local high school design team.
Surak said she is hopeful that most of the pandemic will be over by the time the exhibition dates arrive.
“It’s important since this is also the bicentennial,” Surak said. “And all this is really a chance for people to come together and be out and about. I know that I’m wanting to be.”
In related news, Exhibit Columbus’ educational projects and events were just bolstered by a $25,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It will support the organization’s work to create some special events.
