Landmark Columbus Foundation has partnered up with civic crowdfunding platform Patronicity to launch “The InterOculus Update: Lighting Up the Crossroads of Columbus” campaign to raise funds to ensure “InterOculus” looks great far into the future.
Donations from this campaign will be used to repaint the downtown structure on Washington Street and to complete a structural engineer report. Funds will also be used to launch the third annual Rock the Block Dance Festival on Sept. 6.
Organizers hope to raise $50,000 and if that target is reached, Landmark Columbus Foundation will receive a match from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority in the amount of $50,000. Funds will support the structural assessment and maintenance upgrades, repainting and protective coating, and the Sept. 6 festival.
According to Landmark Columbus Foundation Executive Director Richard McCoy, the structure was built quickly to meet a deadline as part of the 2023 Exhibit Columbus exhibition. He said while it was built in a safe way, there was one piece that was not completed when InterOculus was originally constructed.
To fill in some of those blanks, a full structural analysis is needed, according to the foundation. The paint coating on InterOculus is failing slightly, causing it to become rusty, McCoy said. Now that it has been declared a permanent structure owned by the city, he said the foundation wants to make sure the gift is in great shape.
Installed as part of 2023’s Exhibit Columbus exhibition, the 40-foot-tall “InterOculus” structure was a J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize installation. Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, or PAU, designed the temporary structure as part of the 2022-2023 Exhibit Columbus theme “Public by Design.”
Working together with the city of Columbus and incorporating feedback from residents, PAU created a dome that sits at the intersection of Washington and Fourth Streets, creating a welcoming destination that revitalizes downtown both day and night through suspension and illumination.
“‘InterOculus’ has become a part of our community’s living room, a place where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to dance, celebrate and simply enjoy being in downtown Columbus,” McCoy said. “This campaign is about maintaining the sense of wonder and pride that brought this artwork into existence.”
While “InterOculus” was originally intended to be a temporary installation, community enthusiasm led to it being reinforced and retained as a long-term structure. The pavilion’s success also means that its lights, fabric canopy and projection equipment have endured ongoing use.
“Every contribution, large or small, helps us keep this beacon glowing and ensures that future generations experience the magic of meeting under this new Columbus icon,” McCoy said.
