After announcing “Yes And” as the theme of the fifth cycle of Exhibit Columbus, the organization announced four J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Recipients, six University Design Research Fellows, a Communications Designer, and the High School Design Team. These 12 participants will attend the 2024 Symposium, Oct. 24–25, and build an installation for the 2025 Exhibition, which is set to open Aug. 15–16, 2025.
The Miller Prize was created in 2016 to honor studio-based practitioners focused on improving urban environments through sincere engagement with communities. The name of the Prize calls upon the legacy of former Columbus community leaders J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller, two of the greatest patrons of art and architecture of the 20th century and a family with an unparalleled commitment to building community. The 19 Miller Prize recipients from previous cycles are some of the most recognized names working in their fields today, including studio:indigenios, Oyler Wu Collaborative, Frida Escobedo, SO-IL, Ecosistema Urbano, Olalekan Jeyifous, Tatian Bilbao ESTUDIO, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism among many others.
J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize recipients
Through the two-year cycle, each Miller Prize Recipient will work at a unique site with a paired institution to ultimately create an installation that will become a focal point of the 2025 Exhibition.
Adaptive Operations, Chicago, Illinois
Site: The Crump Theatre
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/adaptive-operations
AD—WO, Brooklyn, New York
Site: The former Irwin Block Building
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/ad-wo
Studio Barnes, Miami, Florida
Site: The Jackson Street Parking Garage
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/studio-barnes
Studio Cooke John, New York, New York
Site: The First Christian Church Sunken Courtyard
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/studio-cooke-john
“We selected these four Miller Prize participants to match at an interesting site based on their remarkable body of work and approach to design and culture. We’re excited to have all of the participants in town later this month to meet with members of the community as they begin to shape their ideas around the theme Yes And,” said the seven Curatorial Partners: Could Be Design (Architects, Chicago and Urbana-Champaign, Illinois), Mila Lipinski (Architectural Associate, Jackson, Mississippi), Rasul Mowatt (Writer and Educator, Raleigh, North Carolina), Preservation Futures (Preservationists, Architect, and Historian, Chicago, Illinois), Too Black (Artist and Poet, Indianapolis, Indiana).
University Design Research Fellowship
Exhibit Columbus announces the six teams of University Design Research Fellows (UDRF). These individuals and teams were selected through a national, open-call competition for full-time university professors whose work is deeply rooted in design research. The Curatorial Partners selected these UDRF teams from nearly fifty submissions. In the coming weeks, each UDRF will be partnered with a Columbus-based organization and given a site at which they will bring their research to create an installation for the exhibition.
Chandler Ahrens, Constance Vale, and Kelley Van Dyck Murphy (team lead), Washington University of Saint Louis
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/ahrens-vale-van-dyck-murphy
Sarah Aziz, University of New Mexico
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/aziz
Akima Brackeen, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/brackeen
César A. Lopez (team lead), Jess Myers, Amelyn Ng, and Germán Pallares-Avitia, University of Virginia, Syracuse University, Columbia University, Rhode Island School of Design
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/lopez-myers-ng-pallares-avitia
Suzanne Lettieri (team lead) and Michael Jefferson, Cornell University
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/jefferson-lettieri
Andrew Fu, Aaron Goldstein, Aleksandr Mergold (team lead), New Jersey Institute of Technology
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/fu-goldstein-mergold
“The high level of research represented by these six University Design Research Fellows is inspiring and we are honored to showcase their work in this cycle of Exhibit Columbus. Together, these professors place emphasis on the curatorial theme, Yes And, in their own way, and collectively allow us to build an exhibition that has curatorial depth across the country,” said the seven Curatorial Partners.
Communication Design
Exhibit Columbus continues its innovative approach to graphic design, wayfinding, and environmental design through Communication Design. This participant of Exhibit Columbus will create the visual expression and narrative throughout the two-year cycle and will propose an information hub at the 2025 Exhibition.
Sing-Sing Studio, Los Angeles
Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/sing-sing
High School Design Team
From the beginning, Exhibit Columbus has focused on including the next generation in the program. For this cycle, R. Spencer Steenblik will serve as the High School Design Team coordinator through his role as a professor at Indiana University. He will work closely with Columbus Area Career Connection (C4) teacher Darin Johnson and others in the Bartholomew County School Corporation. Learn more: exhibitcolumbus.org/high-school-design-team
2024 Symposium, Yes And
The 2024 Exhibit Columbus Symposium will take place downtown at three key venues, allowing attendees to connect with all of the participants. The Symposium will explore ideas related to the curatorial theme, Yes And, by highlighting improv and sketch comedy as a way to connect with people and our environment.
Registration is offered for free and includes four keynote events. More details for the 2024 Symposium will be announced next week on the Exhibit Columbus website.
Thursday, Oct. 24
Feature discussion with Miller Prize Recipients
Comedy Showcase featuring: Rashika Jaipuriar, Mat Alano-Martin, Kelly Collette
Friday, Oct. 25
Keynote Lecture by Julia McMorrough
Feature discussions with UDRF and High School Design Team, and Communication Design
Visitors are encouraged to register for tours of the iconic Miller House and Garden and other architectural tours through the Columbus Area Visitors Center: columbus.in.us
