SCULPTURE
event at the just-renovated Greater Columbus Convention Center.
The artist calls it the “ultimate selfie machine.”
“With what’s happening with certain monuments around the country right now, this is is a monument to inclusiveness and diversity,” Mohr said. “We hope it brings people together.”
The 14-foot metal sculpture is covered with 850,000 LED lights. A built-in photo booth at its back, featuring 32 digital cameras, captures the image of a subject’s head from many angles simultaneously. In about three minutes, the resulting image is superimposed on the blank canvas of the giant “head.” Images, eventually numbering in the thousands, will be stored and continue to be shown in rotation.
Mohr, who teaches advertising and graphic design at CCAD, says that while there’s a light-hearted aspect to the piece, he hopes it will bring people together while celebrating the diversity of Columbus. He says the design of the head was based on a study that measured the average head dimensions of thousands of men and women of all races and ethnicities.
Located behind a wall of glass on the north end of the expanded convention center, at the corner of High and Goodale streets, the sculpture will face toward the interior of the convention center during the day and rotate to face High Street at night.
That’s part of the Franklin County Convention Facility Authority’s drive to integrate the center more with the streetscape around the center, which sits at the gateway to the Short North arts district.
Civic, business and religious leaders, along with some of the other artists whose work is on display at the convention center, were invited over the past week to have their images added to the rotating collection to be displayed on the head. Starting Friday, the public can visit the sculpture, and an attendant will be on hand to help visitors have their faces displayed on it.
Their faces will join those of Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, former mayor Michael B. Coleman and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams founder Jeni Britton Bauer in the rotation.
“Most people are really impressed, though some don’t recognize themselves right away,” said Don Brown, executive director of the convention facilities authority.
The sculpture is part of a larger local art collection — 350 in all — that was assembled as the convention center underwent an extensive $140 million renovation and expansion, completed this summer. About half the works are displayed in the convention center, with the rest on display in the countyowned Hilton Columbus Downtown across the street and the new Goodale parking garage attached to the center.
The convention authority, funded by hotel-room taxes, spent $3.5 million to commission and acquire what’s being billed as the largest collection of local contemporary art in Columbus. “As We Are” cost $1.4 million of that. Operating cost for this particular piece is estimated at $75,000 for the first year, being paid for by a grant from the Columbus Foundation.
“The foundation loved the ‘smart and open’ image for the city that this sculpture conveys,” Brown said.
He noted that the foundation called the authority’s investment in public art a “bold step” that would make Columbus’ convention center compelling and unique to both visitors and local residents.
Brian Ross, CEO of convention and visitors bureau Experience Columbus, praised the sculpture as a reflection of “our city’s innovative creative and diverse culture.” He said it will give visitors “a true sense of place” that will be an extension of the Short North Arts District just outside the center’s doors.