A 229-foot-long suspended sculpture created by artist Janet Echelman will be installed above the intersection of Gay Street and High Street this summer. The project, which was first announced in late 2021, was commissioned and funded by local developer Jeff Edwards of Edwards Companies, and is being touted as the largest private contribution to public art in the city’s history.
The project’s official title is “Current”.
“With Current, we’re reaching into history to redefine our future,” stated Edwards. “This piece will be the north star for Columbus’ new culture-centric compass. I envision this to be the first drop in the pond, sending waves throughout the Gay Street District.”
In 2020, Edwards unveiled plans to focus on public artwork installations Downtown, centered along High Street between Gay Street and Long Street. That also includes the opening or relocation of art galleries in the area, the first of which was the Sarah Gormley Gallery, which opened last summer.
“As Current becomes embedded into the fabric of Downtown, it will also serve as a starting point for engaging a diverse intersection of our community,” said Edwards. “To achieve this, we’ve created a working group of people with varying backgrounds who will help further define, program and activate this Arts and Culture District in the future.”
Edwards Companies has worked on a wide variety of residential and mixed-use projects in the several blocks surrounding the new public art installation, including Neighborhood Launch, The Nicholas, The Citizens, the residential conversion of the PNC Building (which includes the conversion of an elevated walkway into a public pedestrian space), a new 15-story mixed-use building that is currently under construction, and several others.
Once completed, Current will be donated to the Columbus Museum of Art, which will oversee the care and maintenance of the sculpture. Echelman’s inspiration for the piece comes from the history of Downtown as a place of innovation, and the early use of gas-lit lights on its original street arches.
“I became absorbed in Columbus’ historical narrative and quickly fell in love with the city,” she stated. “The challenge to build such an ambitious permanent interconnected art commission over a municipal street attached to multiple private buildings might have been impossible elsewhere.”
The installation is expected to take place the first week of June with a community celebration planned for Friday, June 9th.
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