Landmark Columbus Foundation Invites Community to High Five Day
Ten years of proof. A $3 million foundation. A new direction for design excellence as civic practice.
Columbus, Indiana — Landmark Columbus Foundation (LCF) invites the public to High Five Day on Tuesday, May 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Upland Columbus Pump House (148 Lindsey St.) along the East Fork of the White River in downtown Columbus.
The free annual gathering will celebrate the release of LCF’s 2025 Annual Report, BEEN THERE, DOING THIS, the completion of the organization’s $3 million endowment campaign, the 10th anniversary of Exhibit Columbus, and the public introduction of LCF’s new strategic framework: Design Excellence as Civic Practice.
High Five Day takes its name from May 5, the fifth month and fifth day, when Exhibit Columbus was first publicly announced in 2016. Since then, the event has become LCF’s annual civic gathering, a moment to release the annual report, thank supporters, mark organizational milestones, and look ahead to the work taking shape in Columbus and beyond.
This year’s event carries particular significance. In March 2026, LCF’s Board of Directors adopted a new strategic framework that defines design excellence as a civic discipline, one sustained through institutions, habits, and shared expectations about the quality of public life. The framework positions Columbus as proof that design excellence can endure when a community sustains the conditions that make good decisions possible over time.
“Landmark Columbus Foundation is entering its next chapter with a redefined purpose,” said Tracy Haddad, Board Chair of Landmark Columbus Foundation. “This new strategic direction builds from what Columbus has demonstrated for generations: design excellence is a civic practice. It is something a community earns through discipline, proves in public, and cares for as a legacy. High Five Day gives us a chance to share that direction with the people who make this work possible.”
LCF’s four areas of work provide the structure for this direction. Exhibit Columbus tests design excellence in public. Progressive Preservation cares for it over time. Monumental Gestures applies the method through public art, memory, and civic space. The newly named Civic Design Institute defines the discipline and shares the method, including through Prove It: A National Summit on Design Excellence as Civic Practice, planned for October 2026 in Columbus.
High Five Day 2026 will also publicly celebrate the completion of LCF’s $3 million endowment campaign. The endowment was seeded through Lilly Endowment Inc.’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow initiative in partnership with Heritage Fund, and has grown through years of support from individuals, foundations, corporations, and civic leaders.
“The endowment gives Landmark Columbus Foundation the financial base to do long-term work with seriousness,” said Mark Elwood, immediate past Board Chair of Landmark Columbus Foundation. “This campaign has always been about more than reaching a number. It is about making sure Columbus has an institution with the capacity to care for its design legacy, invest in its future, and sustain this work across generations.”
“This campaign is the community’s investment in its own standard,” added Richard McCoy, Founding Executive Director of Landmark Columbus Foundation. “Columbus has spent generations building a place where design excellence is expected. The endowment allows us to sustain that standard here, and the summit will open that work to others who want to understand how it is done.”
In keeping with High Five Day tradition, two limited-edition items will be available to supporters at the event. A handmade commemorative Exhibit Columbus pennant, marking 10 years of the program, will be available for a $100 contribution. The annual collector pin will be available for any contribution to the Landmark Columbus Foundation Endowment. All proceeds benefit the endowment.
High Five Day is free, casual, and open to everyone. Snacks and a cash bar will be available on the Upland Pump House patio. The evening will include brief remarks from LCF leadership, distribution of the 2025 Annual Report, and time to connect with donors, partners, board members, neighbors, and friends. Register to attend through Eventbrite here.
Media Contact
Jamie Goldsborough
jamie@landmarkcolumbus.org
Photography by Hadley Fruits for Landmark Columbus Foundation
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 Civic Design Institute. landmarkcolumbusfoundation.org
