Carla Clark | For The Republic Students visit the Ellipsis installation during the Umoja, Council for Youth Development and Tu Futuro students special walking tour of the city’s architecture, select installations from Exhibit Columbus, and portions of the Black Heritage Trail, downtown Columbus, Ind, Tuesday, September 9, 2025.
The 2024-2025 Exhibit Columbus “Yes And” exhibition is entering its final month. Three events, one Miller Prize Conversation and two Progressive Preservation Talks, are planned.
According to Landmark Columbus Foundation Executive Director Richard McCoy, Miller Prize Conversations invite national voices into local dialogue. Progressive Preservation projects and events then demonstrate that the community is dedicated to keeping cultural heritage active and relevant.
This work is aligned toward three main goals: to identify significant cultural resources in threat and advocate for their proper care, to work to inform communities of the existence, significance and condition of these cultural resources, and to leverage the foundation’s network to assist managers and owners in caring for these resources, according to McCoy.
Oct. 29 – Miller Prize Conversation with AD-WO, Billie Tsien and Manòn Voice
AD-WO’s Emanuel Admassu, a 2024-2025 J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize recipient and one of the minds behind the “Ellipses” art installation, will be joined by special guest and architect Billie Tsien for a Miller Prize Conversation Oct. 29. Indiana Author Award Honoree poet Manòn Voice will open the conversation with a poetry reading.
The conversation will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 29 and the talk will begin at 6:45 p.m. It will take place at the J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program building at 333 2nd St. Registration for the event can be found at eventbrite.com.
Tsien is one of the founding partners alongside Tod Williams of the New York City-based studio Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Partners. They’re best known for their most recent design of the Obama Presidential Library which is currently under construction in Chicago, according to McCoy.
Nov. 4 – Progressive Preservation Talks Books Edition: What a Building Does
Authors Phillip Cox and Niall Cronin will discuss their latest publication “What a Building Does: The Hoosier Modernisms of Evans Woollen,” in this installment of the Progressive Preservation Talks series.
Hosted in partnership with the Columbus Area Visitors Center, the program will take place at Gallery 506, 506 Fifth St. It will begin with a reception at 6:15 p.m. Nov. 4 with light refreshments from Bespoke Events + Experiences. The talk will then begin at 6:30 p.m.
Registration for the event can be found at eventbrite.com. Cox and Cronin’s book will also be available for sale at the event.
Cox, a writer and native Hoosier, and Cronin, a New York City-based photographer, tells the story of the late Hoosier architect Woollen’s six-decade career in this new book published by the Indiana University Press. Woollen is most well-known for introducing concrete Brutalism to Indianapolis, but his practice ranged from significant, iconic structures to local singe-family homes.
The book focuses on ten of Woollen’s most important built works while also exploring the dynamic ideas that shaped his architecture and the complex relationship he had with his hometown of Indianapolis. It also discovers a multi-decade practice of empathetic, human-centered design conducted long before those ideas went mainstream, according to McCoy.
Nov. 20 – Progressive Preservation Talks Schools Edition: Southside Elementary with Glenda Winders
Columbus-based writer and journalist Glenda Winders has spent years documenting the people and places that define the community. During this upcoming discussion, she will share her work researching Southside Elementary and archives and how the school reflects the innovative spirit that helped shape Columbus’ architectural legacy, McCoy said.
The school was designed by architect Eliot Noyes and was completed in 1969. Known for his human-centered approach to modern architecture, Noyes’ work on Southside Elementary exemplified his belief that design should foster creativity, curiosity and community in educational environments.
The program, hosted in partnership with the Columbus Area Visitors Center, will take place at Gallery 506 starting with a reception at 6:15 p.m. Nov. 20. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m., and time for conversation and audience feedback will follow.
Registration can be found at eventbrite.com. Light refreshments will be provided by Bespoke Events + Experiences.
