After months of videostreamed presentations and plans, final fabricating and last-minute painting and building, the 2021 Exhibit Columbus exhibition, the city’s third, is here in all its whimsical, historical, and creative glory.
A mix of activities are on tap Saturday and beyond after tonight’s preview party at Mill Race Park.
Karen Niverson, executive director of the Columbus Area Visitors Center, predicted in 2016 when the idea was launched that the free event highlighting the city’s Modernist architectural legacy could become the city’s signature event “much like the Indianapolis 500 is for Indy.”
She remembers those words.
“I believe Exhibit Columbus has established itself as our trademark event,” Niverson said. “I think it also will continue to build in recognition throughout the region and even the world as it continues to grow.”
She knows the estimated numbers as well as anyone: An estimated 40,000 people saw the installations in person in the first year in 2017. And an estimated 30,000 saw them in person in 2019.
“And I would say more than the attendance numbers, it’s really the spirit of the event — and that represents Columbus’ culture of pursuing excellence in design.”
A total of 13 installations throughout the city comprise the exhibition running through Nov. 28 under the theme “New Middles: From Main Street to Megalopolis, What is the Future of the Middle City?”
Organizers say this programming “explores the future of the center of the United States and the regions connected by the Mississippi Watershed.
New Middles speculates on the heartland, an ecology stretching beyond political borders — from North to South — from the Canadian Border to the Gulf, and from East to West — from Appalachia to the plains.”
Richard McCoy, among the founders of Exhibit Columbus, is executive director of the nonprofit Landmark Columbus, the exhibition’s umbrella organization. He recently emailed to exhibition supporters a message that shows his continued awe of the event.
“For a city of just over 50,000 (people), it’s really amazing to have this kind of thing happening right here,” McCoy said. “Everyone in the organization is grateful for all of the support that we receive — from contributions to in-kind donations to volunteer hours.
“We build all of this with this community, and when it all goes just right, it’s a kind of collaborative magic trick to make the installations appear in just a few short days.”
