Mike Wolanin | The Republic Volunteers help prep the area where the former Exhibit Columbus installation Carousel will be located at NexusPark in Columbus, Ind., Monday, June 30, 2025.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic Volunteers help prep the area where the former Exhibit Columbus installation Carousel will be located at NexusPark in Columbus, Ind., Monday, June 30, 2025.
As preparations are being made to launch Exhibit Columbus’s fifth exhibition in August, organizers have been reviewing the impact of the previous exhibition. From this previous exhibition, four installations are making the transition from temporary to permanent fixtures in Columbus.

The four installations include “THE PLOT PROJECT,” “Ground Rules,” “InterOculus” and “A Carousel for Columbus.” Each installation in Exhibit Columbus is designed to activate downtown Columbus, connect with a community partner and spark conversations about the intersection of community, architecture, art and design.

“The PLOT Project,” located in Mill Race Park and designed by PORT Urbanism, consists of 12 re-wilding plots, four colorful pavilions and interpretive signage providing educational content about the plants and re-wilding experiments. According to PORT Urbanism, a critical goal of the project was to ensure its lasting impact, and through a grant from Duke Energy Foundation and collaboration with Columbus Parks and Recreation and Mill Race Center staff, one of the pavilions was relocated to a permanent location.

“Ground Rules” by 2022-23 University Design Research Fellows Jessica Colangelo and Charles Sharpless of the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design was designed to encourage interaction and adaptability. In December of 2023, a city council vote affirmed its long-term stay and it can be found just a few blocks away reassembled over a former motorcycle parking bay on Fourth Street. It now functions as a pop-up stage and an informal seating area, continuing to shape downtown as a flexible social space.

At the intersection of Fourth and Washington, the 38-foot-wide, tensile-fabric canopy “InterOculus” was designed by 2022-23 J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Recipient Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. City officials confirmed its long-term stay in late 2023 and Landmark Columbus Foundation is coordinating ongoing maintenance to ensure the installation remains a distinctive presence in the city’s public realm.

“A Carousel for Columbus,” an installation by 2022-23 University Design Research Fellows Joseph Altshuler and Zack Morrison of Could Be Design, will be entering a new chapter as A Carousel for Companionship. This installation is being relocated to NexusPark through a partnership between Columbus Parks and Recreation, the Columbus Area Arts Council, and Altshuler and Morrison, and is scheduled to open in late summer 2025.

“What began as temporary urban design experiments has become part of everyday living in Columbus,” Creative Director of Landmark Columbus Foundation Jamie Goldsborough said. “The continued presence of each installation underscores the role of design in shaping meaningful public experiences, and LCF’s commitment to stewarding public spaces that spark joy, invite connection and cultivate belonging.”
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