Erin Gleason
Natalie Kroger
Lauren Springer
Summer McCann
Christoph Ciurlionis
North High Street is a major component of campus and of Columbus as a whole. Walking along High St. from Woodruff to Lane our group immediately noticed how bland the buildings were. Everything felt very generic and for being so close to the College of Architecture there was really nothing architectural about them. Most buildings were newer and had little to no character. When comparing the rest of High with this section we felt like there was just something missing. Giving High St. a stronger art presence creates an attraction for visitors and students. Art is particularly needed on this end of High St. to help give it more of an identity. New art installations would also create something that students living in the nearby dorms can appreciate.
One of our projects we would like to propose features a long mural along a wall that is exposed towards the street and separates the sidewalk from an adjacent parking lot on High Street. The mural will feature the logos of several businesses located along High Street such as: Target, Buckeye Donuts, and Starbucks. In the top left corner will be the words “Where Will You Bike?” This piece will tie into the nearby bike racks that we proposed as a way to promote biking along High Street and relieve traffic congestion. It wall also make the area more aesthetically pleasing as the current beige colored wall is an eyesore.
A second proposed project focuses on a small area of High Street, right where the Ohio Stater apartment building meets adjacent to Donatos. Both of these walls have blank, boring facades. We decided to fill this space with art that is not only appealing to the eye, but would fill a purpose as well. With all of the surrounding retail and food destinations nearby the space, such as United Dairy Farmers, Chatime Tea, iFixx, etc., it would be nice for students to be able to bike to this spot more readily. We propose a series of bike racks being implemented in this space to encourage students to bike more.
Because the mural will be promoting local businesses throughout High Street, we proposed to charge each business around one hundred dollars to cover the cost of the mural and its upkeep. Due to all of the continuing construction on High Street, the mural should be updated every five years with new businesses added and old businesses removed. Because this area is highly associated with the University District, we proposed that Art Management students would be responsible for the upkeep and repainting of the mural.
