Landmark Columbus Foundation Announces Winter 2026 Events in Columbus, Palm Springs, Chicago
Programs include Progressive Preservation Talks, Palm Springs Modernism Week, and a featured lecture at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Columbus, Indiana — Landmark Columbus Foundation (LCF) announces a series of winter 2026 events spanning Columbus, Indiana; Palm Springs, California; Chicago, Illinois; and New Harmony, Indiana. Through talks, lectures, an exhibition, and national convenings, these events advance LCF’s mission to care for, celebrate, and advance the cultural heritage of Columbus, Indiana and like-minded communities. To fulfill its mission, LCF directs three locally-engaged and globally-connected programs that are interwoven in their impact and networks: Progressive Preservation, Exhibit Columbus, and Columbus Design Institute.
“We are creating opportunities for people to connect with place and explore the tradition of design excellence in Columbus,” said Richard McCoy, executive director of Landmark Columbus Foundation. “These events may appear straightforward on the surface, but they open the door to deeper conversations about design, history, and what it means to belong to a community.”
Information about all of these events is available on the Landmark Columbus Foundation website: landmarkcolumbusfoundation.org
Upcoming Events
Progressive Preservation Talks
Schools Edition: Southside Elementary
Thursday, January 29 at 6:30 p.m. EST
Columbus Area Visitors Center, Columbus, Indiana
Landmark Columbus Foundation’s Progressive Preservation Talks series continues with a Schools Edition focused on Southside Elementary School, designed by Eliot Noyes and completed in 1969. This public talk will feature senior cultural researcher Glenda Winders, who will share insights from her research into the school’s history and archival materials. This series invites the community to engage in conversation about educational architecture, preservation, and the lasting impact of modern design in Columbus. The evening will begin with a reception and light refreshments, followed by the talk and time for audience reflection and discussion. The event is produced in partnership with the Columbus Area Visitors Center. Register for free here.
Palm Springs Modernism Week
Small Towns + Great Architecture: Modernism’s Untold Stories
Friday, February 13 at 11:00 a.m. PST
Annenberg Theater, Palm Springs, California
As part of Palm Springs Modernism Week, Landmark Columbus Foundation will participate in Small Towns + Great Architecture: Modernism’s Untold Stories, a panel presentation and discussion examining the architectural legacies of Palm Springs, California; Sarasota, Florida; and Columbus, Indiana. Despite populations of approximately 50,000, each city has become internationally recognized for innovative modern architecture and ambitious civic design.
The event will explore the conditions and individuals that contributed to these architectural renaissances, including the roles of architects, developers, governments, and clients, as well as the ways each community continues to steward and preserve its built legacy while planning for the future. Panelists will share historical context, behind-the-scenes perspectives, and pivotal moments that shaped each city’s design identity, highlighting both shared movements and distinct approaches to modern architecture and preservation.
The panel will be moderated by Katie Horak, Principal at Architectural Resource Group, and will feature Richard McCoy, Executive Director of Landmark Columbus Foundation; Alan Hess, architect, author, and historian with the Palm Springs Architectural Alliance; and Morris Hylton III, President of Architecture Sarasota. A book signing will follow the event, which is presented by the Palm Springs Architectural Alliance. Get tickets here.
School of the Art Institute of Chicago Mitchell Lecture Series
featuring Nora Daley and Richard McCoy
Wednesday, February 18 at 6:00 p.m. CST
Leroy Neiman Center, Chicago, Illinois
As part of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Mitchell Lecture Series, Landmark Columbus Foundation will participate in a public lecture featuring Nora Daley, Co-chair Board of Directors of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and Richard McCoy, Executive Director of Landmark Columbus Foundation. The Mitchell Lecture Series introduces students and the broader public to leading voices in architecture, design, and preservation, offering insight into contemporary practice and critical discourse across disciplines.
Hosted by SAIC’s Architecture, Interior Architecture, Designed Objects, and Historic Preservation department, the lecture provides an opportunity to engage with ideas shaping the future of biennial exhibitions through the perspectives of practitioners working at the intersection of design and civic life. The event is free and open to the public.
Black History Month Columbus
Progressive Preservation Talks: Goins Hotel
with Cameryn Kent and Paulette Roberts
Tuesday, February 10 at 4:30 p.m. EST
Columbus Area Visitors Center, Columbus, Indiana
In celebration of Black Heritage Month, Landmark Columbus Foundation presents a special edition of its Progressive Preservation Talks series focused on the historic Goins Hotel. This event will feature research and insights from Cameryn Kent and Paulette Roberts, highlighting the site’s layered history and its role within Columbus’ Black Heritage Trail. The Trail, which opened last summer, is a self-guided walking route tracing the history of Black land ownership, businesses, and cultural life in Columbus from the late 1800s through the early 20th century. Located at 415½ Fourth Street, the Goins Hotel was established in 1928 by Elmer and Lydia Goins as a 23-room boarding house serving Black travelers during segregation. The talk will explore the building’s evolution from its early years through 2023.
Speakers Kent and Roberts have been conducting research on the Goins Hotel together since February 2025. Kent is an undergraduate intern at Landmark Columbus Foundation and a student of Comprehensive Design at Indiana University. Roberts is the original creator of the Black Heritage Trail.
The evening will begin with a reception and light refreshments, followed by the talk and time for audience reflection and discussion. The event is produced in partnership with Black History Month Columbus and the Columbus Area Visitors Center. Free registration here.
New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art
J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize Exhibition
Opening Reception Saturday, February 28 at 3 p.m. CST
On view through Saturday, April 11
Landmark Columbus Foundation (LCF) presents a retrospective exhibition at the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, examining ten years of the Exhibit Columbus J. Irwin & Xenia S. Miller Prize. The exhibition brings together twenty-three commissioned installations realized through Exhibit Columbus between 2016 and 2025, offering a comprehensive look at the Prize’s evolution and its contributions to public life, design discourse, and community practice.
Organized by exhibition cycle, the retrospective is presented through the perspectives of current LCF staff, reflecting on how the Miller Prize has grown over time and how its ambitions, methods, and impacts have shifted in response to changing ideas about design, civic engagement, and place-based work. Rather than focusing solely on individual projects, the exhibition positions the Miller Prize as a cultural legacy—one that extends beyond temporary installations to influence long-term thinking about public space and community-centered design.
Presented in a gallery setting, the exhibition expands access to the work of Exhibit Columbus while reinforcing LCF's role as a steward of design knowledge and institutional memory. The exhibition also examines the Miller Prize as a platform for experimentation across architecture, art, and civic life, asking how temporary public works can generate lasting cultural impact.
Exhibit Columbus is a biennial 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 public life.
The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize honors designers whose work reflects the Millers’ belief in the power of architecture, art, and design to strengthen communities. Awarded through Exhibit Columbus, the Prize supports site-responsive installations that engage history, place, and contemporary civic questions.
Black History Month Columbus
Progressive Preservation Talks: Granville Lee Edition
with Michael Cartwright and Kevin Jones
Monday, February 23 at 6:30 p.m.
The Crump Theatre, Columbus, Indiana
This Progressive Preservation Talk with Michael Cartwright and Kevin Joneswill feature research and information about Columbus' local historic figure, Granville Lee.
The talk will feature retired University of Indianapolis Vice President Michael Cartwright and Indiana University Columbus Professor Kevin Jones, who will narrate what happened before, during, and immediately after the Columbus High School commencement at the Crump Theatre on May 28, 1901. This landmark occasion has been remembered (somewhat inaccurately) as the occasion when the first African American male, Granville Lee, graduated.
Although stories of the 1901 commencement have circulated for the past 125 years, this event will bring it into sharper focus by placing it in the context of American civic struggles to uphold the values of equality and independence. On this occasion, the legal doctrine of “separate but equal” disrupted the Columbus community’s quest for excellence in public education. In the process, the memory of Granville Lee’s significance has been blurred.
The evening will begin with a reception at 6:15 p.m. with light refreshments. The talk will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include time for feedback from those in attendance. The event is produced in partnership with Black History Month Columbus and will take place at The Crump Theatre. Free registration here.
Media Contact
Jamie Goldsborough
jamie@landmarkcolumbus.org
About Landmark Columbus Foundation
Landmark Columbus Foundation (LCF) cares for, celebrates, and advances the cultural heritage of Columbus, Indiana. To fulfill its mission, LCF directs two locally engaged and globally connected programs that are interwoven in their impact and networks: Exhibit Columbus and Columbus Design Institute. landmarkcolumbusfoundation.org
