Mike Wolanin | The Republic Richard McCoy, left, executive director of Landmark Columbus, pats Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism | PAU, on the back during Exhibit Columbus’ Rock the Block party under Exhibit Columbus installation InterOculus on the opening weekend of Exhibit Columbus in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. Chakrabarti and his studio PAU designed InterOculus.
The nonprofit Landmark Columbus Foundation endowment has hit its $1 million mark — and just a couple days ahead of its ideal goal and date that was by the beginning of the foundation’s Exhibit Columbus architectural exhibition “Public By Design.”
The foundation caring for the city’s cultural heritage has been perhaps best known for being the umbrella agency for Exhibit Columbus architectural exhibition that has given the city’s Modernist legacy renewed global attention and sparkle since its inception in 2017.
Richard McCoy, foundation executive director, confirmed that “a major contribution, one of our largest endowment contributions,” put the entity over its goal two days before the exhibition opened with a celebration Aug. 25 at The Commons downtown.
The donation came from longtime local leader Sherry Stark, whose past community support has stretched from working in city government to leading the Columbus Area Arts Council to leading The Heritage Fund — the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County. She also was a key board member overseeing the building and opening of The Commons in 2011.
“We were working on things right up until the Exhibit Columbus opening night party,” McCoy said of the gathering of 450 people.
Originally, foundation leaders at their annual meeting in May targeted the end of the year for the financial goal — until board chair Mark Elwood stepped up to speak at that meeting and suggested the Aug. 25 deadline as more ideal.
“I thought that the goal was ambitious,” Elwood said. “But I always have believed that it’s far better to be bold and aim to do something great rather than shooting for maybe average and hitting that.
“And I’m very happy that a generous community stepped up.”
McCoy echoed the thought.
“I think it’s always good to be goal-driven and deadline driven,” McCoy said. “I believe that it can cause people to work in different and even more effective ways. And there’s currently a lot of really good energy out there about our organization.”
The foundation is now aiming at one other specific goal while continuing efforts “to be a good financial steward,” as McCoy put it. That added goal is to hit the $1.6 million mark by the end of 2025.
“I think that target sounds realistic,” Elwood said. “But, long term, I really think that it would be ideal to eventually get the endowment to a $4 million or $5 million total. But, obviously I’m not ready to put a timeline yet on a figure like that.”
Elwood pointed out that there is more immediate endowment support work to do. And that’s because there is another goal he outlined in May — one not yet achieved: 100 new donors of any amount to the endowment. The total currently stands at 75.
“We understand that most people aren’t in a position to give thousands,” Elwood said. “But I want to encourage those who can give $20 or $50 or even $100. Those kind of donors can further energize Landmark Columbus and put even more wind in our sails.”
The foundation was launched in 2020 with a Lilly Endowment grant of $525,000.
Columbus Design Institute is another program of the foundation. It is a technical service initiative that promotes the value of good design that helped build Columbus and was defined by Heritage Fund in the 2000s. Collaborative projects and events are completed with partners through a design process to encourage meaningful investments in the sustainable and equitable development of communities.
McCoy and the foundation leaders have been careful to regularly highlight their work alongside other elements and sectors of the community.
“Columbus is a sophisticated place with very generous people,” McCoy said. “It’s important to remember that we’re not competing against anybody, but we are actually working with everybody.”
