Art on High Strategic Plan & Artist Selection

Columbus, Ohio

WHY
In 2010, the City of Columbus, Ohio dedicated $25 million to the High Street Streetscape Project, which will transform North High Street through the Short North Arts District and the southern University District — one of the busiest corridors in Columbus. The streetscape improvements will create a safer, more walkable, and more inclusive neighborhood by burying overhead utilities, increasing sidewalk widths, standardizing streetscape elements, upgrading lighting, adding marked crosswalks, improving stormwater management, and adding new street trees. Two percent of the total streetscape budget has been dedicated to an investment in public art.

HOW
Designing Local advised the City of Columbus as it planned for its public art investment, and managed a team of three consultants. Through extensive public engagement and a thorough understanding of the current and future built environment, Designing Local selected eight locations at which to site public art along a two-mile stretch of North High Street. Each location was vetted by the Columbus Department of Public Service and the design team to ensure it would be suitable for public art.

WHAT
The Art on High Strategic Plan provided a vision for how public art should be featured along the corridor, and how this initial investment could be used to catalyze future such investment. In addition, the team conducted three public meetings, monthly walkabouts, and extensive stakeholder interviews to determine what the community would like to see on the site. Designing Local then managed a call for artists and jury process, from which artist Mark Reigelman was selected. His ‘Makers Monument’ was installed in July 2021.