The Reimagining Columbus project. 

The Reimagining Columbus project successfully concluded its two-year effort to develop recommendations for the future of the Christopher Columbus statue, which had been removed from City Hall’s campus in 2020. This work was accomplished by engaging Central Ohio residents in extensive community conversations and educational programming about how shared history and values are reflected in public art and monuments. The project was guided by a diverse, representative team of experts in design, history, public engagement, and cultural inclusion.

As part of this initiative, the City of Columbus committed to creating new public art and commemorative spaces that reflect the city’s collective history, values, and aspirations.


Project Announcement

Funding Partner | Mellon Foundation

This City-led, community-driven project was a recipient of funding from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project, a multi-year commitment aimed at transforming the nation’s commemorative landscape to ensure our collective histories were more completely and accurately represented.

The Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project provided a $2 million grant to the Columbus Department of Development for the Reimagining Columbus Project in June 2023. Additionally, the City of Columbus committed $1.5 million to fund the public art that resulted from this project.


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The Reimagining Columbus Project Team

Led by a team of historians, Indigenous architects and designers, and diversity and inclusion advisors, the project used conventional and restorative practices to support the sharing of personal narratives from Columbus residents, thereby creating places and symbols in which they saw themselves.


Team Roles

Cultural Competency Committee

The Committee acted as an internal sounding board and review committee for all content generated for this project.

Community Engagement Team

The team developed and facilitated engagement experiences for the general public.

Design Team

The team used engagement content to generate designs for the potential new space that allowed the public to physically interact with and understand difficult histories.

Project Management Team

The team ensured the project was on task and on schedule to reach the grant goals as well as interfaced with the City of Columbus.

Documentation Team

The team documented the process through video and photo.

Reimagining Columbus Project Timeline

Project Establishment:

Jun ‘23 - Aug ‘23

Historic Research:

Sept ‘23 - Jan ‘24

Community Engagement

Feb ‘24 - May ‘24

Visioning:

Jun ‘24 - Jan ‘25

Community Review:

May ‘25 - Aug ‘25

Conceptual Design:

Feb ‘25 - May ‘25

Final Design:

August ‘25

FAQs

  • Through a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project, the city had an opportunity to reckon with symbols of its namesake, Christopher Columbus, and create a more inclusive public art landscape. This allowed everyone an opportunity to uncover and share their fuller, more complex story.

  • The Monuments Project was an unprecedented commitment by the Mellon Foundation to transform the nation’s commemorative landscape by supporting public projects that more completely and accurately represented the multiplicity and complexity of American stories. By joining the Monuments Project, Columbus joined an effort by cities and organizations nationwide to grapple with difficult history and uplift the stories of people who hadn't been represented in our symbolic landscape.

  • Now that the Reimagining Columbus project has completed its community engagement and developed a recommendation for recontextualizing the former Christopher Columbus statue, the project shifts from planning and development to advocacy and implementation.

    The immediate next steps are entirely dependent on community support and future allocation of resources. The recommendations are a vision, but they are not yet a funded plan.

    Currently, the recommendations do not come with an allocated budget or a pre-determined site.

    • The $2 million Mellon Foundation grant and the $1.5 million committed by the City of Columbus were primarily for the planning, engagement, and design concept phase of the project.

    • The actual construction of the recontextualized statue site—including any associated park or community facility—is not yet funded.

    The future of the park and community facility recommended by the project rests entirely on the local community taking ownership of the vision.

    • Fundraising and Support: It will be up to the community to support their vision by establishing a foundation or task force dedicated to fundraising. This includes soliciting private donations, corporate sponsorships, and potentially new state or federal grants.

    • Advocacy to Officials: Community members must actively advocate for this park and community facility to be built by engaging with the City Council, the Mayor's office, and other local government bodies. 

    In short, Reimagining Columbus has provided the blueprint for the future; the community must now provide the commitment and resources to turn that blueprint into reality.