Nina Cooke John of Studio Cooke John said she was delighted to learn that the sunken courtyard at First Christian Church would be the site of her installation. She said she found the idea of seeing the space from above and then having a different experience from down below to be exciting.

“It’s a powerful site historically and architecturally including the use of the strong grid that was a big part of American modernism at that time,” she said. “It’s also important to me to recognize that it’s not just an architectural legacy, but it is also a church home to this congregation.”

To get started with the design, she spoke with members of the church’s congregation. They told her they felt they were perceived as being closed, old-fashioned, and traditional. “Most critical is that the installation references the architectural and historical legacy of the building, while also respecting the current congregation’s needs,” Cooke John said. “How could we combine the power of the architectural legacy with the playful, the whimsical, the welcoming?”

She came up with the idea of a forest of cubes and fabric. From the plaza above, the colorful array attracts the attention of passersby and invites them to come interact. From below, it is grounding, and (among the many activities people can do) there is meditation. The church would like to take advantage of the outdoor space, so Cooke John imagines meetings, choir practices, and picnics happening there.

With the help of Brose Partington Studio in Indianapolis, she created a grid based on those that are a part of the rectilinear church building, such as the windows and the bell tower. Made of powder-coated steel, the grid is durable, self-supporting, and self-stabilizing. Open steel cubes are welded to the base, and exterior-grade nylon-type translucent fabric is threaded through these openings to create the “kites,” providing both stability and playful moments as the kites flutter up toward the sky. Its visibility encourages people walking by to come down and engage with the installation as well as with the church community.

“The kites are high enough that they will provide a pretty strong signal to people that there’s stuff happening down in the courtyard,” Cooke John said. “I think you are engaging with it from the plaza at the sidewalk level, even if you don’t come inside.”

Some of the fabric panels for the kites were created by youth during the Exhibit Columbus 2025 Design Camp in partnership with Foundation For Youth and Columbus Youth Camp. Pneuhaus, a fabricator in Providence, Rhode Island, combined these with their own off-scraps in a kind of quiltlike mosaic pattern.

Ropes that anchor the kites to the cubes provide additional stability in strong gusts of wind while reinforcing the idea of the kite and the connectivity between the different cubes. Her own philosophical outlook is that all people and things are interconnected.

“I like the idea that even though the cubes and the kites are individual elements, they are connected to each other and get support from each other,” Cooke John said. “This reinforces the idea that it is a community experience.”

And she said that visitors can be either actively or passively involved in many ways—being on the cubes, walking through, sitting inside, watching from afar, and leaning on the wall surrounding the courtyard and contemplating the installation. She said that what she finds most rewarding about doing public installations is that each person brings something new to the piece. This time she hopes for positive memories of a forest or balloons at the beach.

“Primarily I’d like for it to feel like an otherworldly experience, feelings of joy and freedom,” she said. “It would be nice if people got that, but I think it will also be clear to them that they are in the space of the church because the building is present."

“Yes” it’s an important architectural piece, she said, “And” it’s also an important spiritual place, community space and day-to-day place of engagement for the people who use it regularly. “Yes,” this place can be a reverent and spiritual space, “And” it can be light and fun and playful at the same time. Cooke John said those two things are not mutually exclusive.”