Landmark Columbus Foundation (LCF) demonstrates what design excellence can mean to a community: earned through discipline, proven in public, and cared for as a legacy for the future.
Our Programs
Exhibit Columbus
tests design excellence in public
Progressive Preservation
cares for design excellence over time
Monumental Gestures
applies the method in other cities
Civic Design Institute
defines the discipline and shares the methods
News and Events
Event
The Monument Knows
Public Conversation No. 1 with Salamishah Tillet and Jordan Ryan
Wednesday, July 1
Doors open at 4:30 p.m.
Program begins at 5:00 p.m.
Christ Church Cathedral
125 Monument Circle, Indianapolis
This inaugural conversation features Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, cultural critic, and scholar Salamishah Tillet alongside Indianapolis-based cultural researcher and public historian Jordan Ryan. Together, they will explore how monuments shape civic identity, collective memory, and public life. Tillet will discuss the role monuments play in American culture and public discourse, while Ryan will offer historical insights into Monument Circle’s evolving significance in Indianapolis. The conversation will be moderated by Daniel Luis Martinez (Director of the J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program).
Event
Juneteenth: Echoes of the Unnamed
Friday, June 19
10:00 am – 11:00 am
City Cemetery
739 22nd Street
Set alongside the cemetery ribbon-cutting ceremony, this event creates space to honor the lives and legacy of African Americans whose stories have too often gone untold. Through storytelling and interpretation, “tombstones” will speak—offering glimpses into the lived experiences, contributions, and resilience of those laid to rest, even when records are incomplete or names are lost.
This experience connects the national significance of Juneteenth—the celebration of freedom—with the local history embedded in the land. The cemetery itself stands as a reminder of inequities of the past, where Black individuals were often buried in less visible or less valued spaces. By gathering here, we acknowledge that history while uplifting the enduring impact of those who came before us.
This event is created in partnership with The African American Foundation of Bartholomew County, NAACP of Bartholomew County, Columbus Parks and Recreation, and the Bartholomew County Historical Society.
Event
Prove It
A National Summit on Design Excellence as Civic Practice
Save the Date
October 8–10
Columbus, Indiana
This first-of-its-kind event will convene civic leaders, thinkers, researchers, designers, and funders to test a single proposition: design excellence is a civic discipline that can be defined, measured, and practiced by any community willing to do the work. It will also seek to measure and define quality of place in collaboration with 2–3 partner communities.
Publication
BEEN THERE, DOING THIS
2025 Annual Report
The 2025 Annual Report documents a pivotal year, marking the culmination of a transformative five-year grant that helped establish the organization as a lasting civic institution. It highlights key achievements—from major investments in preservation and public art to the success of Exhibit Columbus and new national initiatives—while introducing Design Excellence as Civic Practice as a guiding framework for the future. Together, these pages reflect both the impact of recent work and a renewed commitment to advancing design as a tool for civic life.
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