Exhibit Columbus Presents Ten-Year Retrospective of the J. Irwin & Xenia S. Miller Prize at New Harmony Gallery
New Harmony, Indiana — Exhibit Columbus, a feature program of Landmark Columbus Foundation, presents 10 Years of the J. Irwin & Xenia S. Miller Prize, a retrospective exhibition examining a decade of site-responsive installations commissioned through Exhibit Columbus between 2016 and 2025. On view at the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, the exhibition brings together twenty-three Miller Prize projects across five exhibition cycles, offering a reflective look at how design exploration in public space can shape civic life over time.
Rather than recreating past installations, the exhibition focuses on interpretation. Through over 120 photographs by celebrated photographer Hadley Fruits, this exhibition examines each cycle, how designers responded to place, and how communities experienced these works in everyday life. Hadley Fruits has been documenting civic life in Columbus and the work of Landmark Columbus Foundation for 15 years. His photographs have been published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and numerous monographs.
Organized by each two-year Exhibit Columbus cycle, the exhibition traces the evolution of the Miller Prize as a platform for design excellence, public engagement, and cultural stewardship. As an added layer of understanding, 10 Years of the Miller Prize is interpreted through the voices of current Landmark Columbus Foundation staff, situating each cycle within its institutional and civic context while acknowledging the personal involvement that shaped the work at the time. This approach positions the Miller Prize not only as a series of temporary installations but as a growing cultural legacy that reflects changing ideas about architecture, art, and community practice.
“The Miller Prize has always been about testing new ideas in public,” said Richard McCoy, executive director of Landmark Columbus Foundation. “This exhibition allows us to step back and ask what those experiments have meant, how they’ve contributed to shared understanding, civic dialogue, and the long-term cultural life of place.”
The exhibition is organized into five sections, corresponding to each Exhibit Columbus cycle:
2016–17 Inaugural Cycle
2018–19 Good Design and the Community
2020–21 New Middles
2022–23 Public by Design
2024–25 Yes And
Each section includes an overview of the cycle’s theme and context, standardized descriptions of the Miller Prize installations, and new reflections that situate the work within a longer arc of institutional learning and civic responsibility.
Presented in a gallery setting, 10 Years of the J. Irwin & Xenia S. Miller Prize expands access to Exhibit Columbus’ work beyond Columbus. The exhibition demonstrates how design excellence operates as an active civic practice shaped over time through trust, experimentation, and public life, reinforcing Landmark Columbus Foundation’s mission to care for, celebrate, and advance the cultural heritage of Columbus, Indiana, and like-minded communities.
For more information, visit usi.edu/new-harmony-gallery-of-contemporary-art.
Media Contact
Jamie Goldsborough
jamie@landmarkcolumbus.org
About Exhibit Columbus
Exhibit Columbus is a public exploration of community, architecture, art, and design that activates the modern architectural legacy of Columbus, Indiana. Through research, conversation, and commissioned installations, Exhibit Columbus convenes designers, artists, educators, and community partners to explore how design can meaningfully contribute to civic life. exhibitcolumbus.org
About Landmark Columbus Foundation
Landmark Columbus Foundation is a public resource and thought leader for Progressive Preservation in Bartholomew County; an advocate and educator for and about cultural heritage; and a source of inspiration to advance good design for public benefit throughout Indiana and beyond. To fulfill its mission, Landmark Columbus Foundation works in three key program areas intertwined in building the organization’s vision: Progressive Preservation, Exhibit Columbus, and Columbus Design Institute. landmarkcolumbusfoundation.org
