A reflection on the 2022 Symposium, Public by Design
Exhibit Columbus hit the streets in October with the 2022 Symposium, Public by Design. The two-day series of events brought people together, encouraged exploration, and sparked joy.
In a format designed to inspire engagement from Columbus, around the state, and far beyond, the 2022 Symposium featured sessions with the J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Recipients, University Design Research Fellows, High School Design Team, Communication Designer, Curatorial Team, and three keynote presentations. All events were free and open to the public.
KEYNOTE with J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Recipients. From left: moderator Julie McClure (The Republic Newspaper), Vishaan Chakrabarti (PAU), Sara Zewde (Studio Zewde), Chris Marcinkoski (PORT), and Tatiana Bilbao (Tatiana Bilbao ESTUDIO).
Above right: Symposium graphics created by 2022–23 Communication Designer, Chris Grimley (OverUnder).
The theme Public by Design encourages engagement through public sessions, site explorations, and keynote events.
Day One of the 2022 Exhibit Columbus Symposium, Public by Design, kicked off at The Commons with a keynote presentation from Trinity Simons Wagner, the executive director of the Mayor’s Institute on City Design. Trinity talked about the importance of mayors being the chief urban designers of their cities and the recently-launched Just City Mayoral Fellowship.
The day continued with two types of sessions running congruently:
EXPLORE sessions will allow you to visit the site at which each Miller Prize Recipient is paired during this cycle of Exhibit Columbus.
CONNECT sessions will take place at the Commons and allow you to hear from each Miller Prize Recipient and learn about the history, community, and design challenge for each site.
The day culminated in a keynote conversation with all of the Miller Prize Participants moderated by Julie McClure, Editor of The Republic Newspaper, who has more than twenty years of experience writing for Indiana papers.
Day Two of the 2022 Exhibit Columbus Symposium, Public by Design, was hosted at Columbus City Hall with a keynote conversation with Rachel Kaplan-David, the Director of the Chicago Architectural Biennial, and Jenny Gil Schmitz, the Executive Director of Desert X—two of the country’s leading cultural programs that create site responsive art and architecture installations. The conversation was moderated by Rasul Mowatt, Department Head of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. Sessions continued throughout the day with the University Design Research Fellows in conversation with James Lima Planning + Development, a leading urban strategy consultancy.
Also Saturday, a session about communication design with Chris Grimley, a principal at the firm OverUnder in conversation with Rick Valicenti, an independent producer, designer, and Landmark Columbus Foundation Design Director. The day concluded with introductions to the High School Design Team and Elementary STEM Students.
2022 Symposium Support
The 2022 Exhibit Columbus Symposium: Public by Design is presented with support from a National Endowment for The Arts “Our Town Grant” through a partnership with the City of Columbus and Indiana Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts “Collaboration Grant” with the City of Bloomington, and through major support from the organization’s Design Legacy Supporters, many individuals, foundations, and corporations.