Art commission receives update on Reimagining Columbus statue project and city public-art planning

City art commissioners heard an update on the Mellon-funded Reimagining Columbus project, the city’s City Hall public-art plan and how the commission will work with a new Art in Public Places (AIPP) committee.

Project presenter Amanda Golden told the commission the team had completed its first year of activities, including historic research, a community engagement series and an online learning program. "We have completed kind of our first year of activities," Golden said, describing walking tours, focus groups and a public website at reimaginingcolumbus.com.

The presenters said the second year will concentrate on turning community input into design concepts. The design team has met weekly and traveled to Washington, D.C., to study museum exhibitions and discuss how difficult histories can be interpreted in built environments. The project aims to produce concept designs for recontextualizing the Christopher Columbus statue and…