Public by Design: The Bloomington Conversation

Event Details

Public by Design: The Bloomington Conversation is a culmination of a partnership between the City of Bloomington and the City of Columbus in connection with the fourth cycle of the program Exhibit Columbus. This day is designed to foster the exchange of ideas around the use of art and design to create a better quality of life and place for cities.

The Bloomington Conversation will be a day of events featuring a public art tour; a screening of Playtime by Cicada Cinema; and conversations that explore past, present and future themes of art and design in Bloomington’s downtown, Trades District and new Hopewell Neighborhood. Speakers and guides include Esteban Garcia Bravo, whose artwork Aurora Almanac is installed in the Trades District Garage, landscape architect Chris Merritt, whose firm Merritt Chase contributed to the Hopewell Neighborhood Master Plan, and James Lima of James Lima Planning + Development, who specializes in the economics of placemaking and creating more vibrant, equitable and resilient places for all.

Schedule of Events

Downtown Art and Design Tour
10:30 a.m.
Welcome, with doughnuts and coffee. An overview of the Trades District at the Trades District Garage, featuring remarks by artist Esteban Garcia Bravo (10th and Rogers Street). Former City of Bloomington mayor John Fernandez, who now leads development in the Trades District as senior vice president of innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill, will give an overview of the Trades District.

11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Downtown Art and Design Tour, including stops at the City Hall Farmers Market, the Graduate Hotel mural by Nina Chanel Abney  and the Black Lives Matter Mural in People’s Park.

Lunch
12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m.
Lunch at the John Waldron Arts Center (122 S. Walnut St.)

Public Conversation
2:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.
A public conversation about art, design and economic development in the Hopewell Neighborhood and beyond, featuring Chris Merritt and James Lima at the John Waldron Arts Center (122 S. Walnut St.). A reception will immediately follow the conversation at the City of Bloomington/One Drop Underground exhibition at the Fourth Street Garage (105 W. Fourth St.).

Film Screening of Playtime
7:30 p.m.
Free screening of Playtime at the Upland Brewery Woodshop (350 W. 11th St.) in partnership with Cicada Cinema.

To register, visit the Public by Design Eventbrite page or click on the RSVP button above,

For more information, contact Exhibit Columbus at info@landmarkcolumbus.org.

This program is presented through a partnership between Exhibit Columbus, the City of Bloomington and the City of Columbus. It received support from an Indiana Humanities Collaboration Grant.