Exhibit Columbus 2020 kicks off next week

The Conversation Plinth at Bartholomew County Public Library during a previous Exhibit Columbus installation in August 2017. WRB photo.

Exhibit Columbus will be kicking off their biennial symposium next week, but because of COVID-19 things will look different from previous in-person gatherings in the city itself. Anne Surak, director of Exhibit Columbus explains that the symposium will be going virtual and will be spread out over almost two months of bi-weekly virtual seminars.

Exhibit Columbus alternates a year with a symposium, and a year with the installations at the site of various city architecture and design landmarks.

The virtual symposium will have two conversation events a week, every two weeks through the end of October, for a total of eight conversations. Surak said the symposium will have a theme of “New Middles: What is the Future of the Middle City?

Each week will focus on a particular topic and will feature a Tuesday and Thursday conversation, with the Thursday conversations focused specifically on Columbus.

The first week will be focused on Futures & Technologies. The first conversation, is from 2 to 3 p.m. on Tuesday and will be with futurists discussing how strategic foresight and storytelling influence design.

The first Columbus-centered event will be Thursday, Sept. 17th from noon to 1 p.m. It will be with Miller Prize recipients Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers, along with Columbus Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Frey and a representative from Cummins.

You can get more information or sign up at ExhibitColumbus.org. Participation in the conversations is free.