How Compton Uses Construction Resources to Support Public Art in Columbus
Public art is meant to be seen. The work that helps make it possible usually isn’t.
Columbus has no shortage of big walls or artists ready to do something interesting with them. What’s harder is everything required to get the work up there: equipment, access, scheduling, and the right support on the ground.
That’s one place where construction and art have more in common than you might expect.
Over the years, Compton Construction has found practical ways to support artists and arts organizations around Columbus. Whether that means helping connect an artist with the right equipment, sponsoring the cost of a lift, or supporting the infrastructure behind an event that brings art into the city, we find ways to roll up our sleeves and help.
It’s a small role compared with the work the artists are doing, but it’s one we’re uniquely qualified for.
Helping Artists Reach the Wall
At 934 Gallery, muralist Luka Weinberger used a sponsored lift while creating their new mural for the gallery. Compton helped cover the lift rental, giving Luka access to a piece of equipment that’s commonplace on a construction site but much less accessible to an individual artist.
At Blockfort’s Alley Islands, lift support has become part of a much longer relationship.
Compton was involved with Blockfort from its earliest days, helping the organization get its building open and operational. That relationship continued after the initial construction work was finished, including support for Alley Islands over the past six years.
Blockfort founder Adam Brouillette put it this way:
Compton Construction was here at the beginning of Blockfort, helping us get open and operational. For the past 6 years, that partnership has continued with support for our festival, Alley Islands. I can say, without their support neither the building or the festival would have happened.
That history matters to us. Supporting a space doesn’t always stop once construction is finished. Sometimes the more interesting story is what happens inside, around, and because of that space afterward.
Supporting Public Art Across Columbus
Compton was also among the supporters behind Mandi Caskey, known as Miss Birdy, and her new Short North mural, She Moves with Color.
The project brought together the Greater Columbus Arts Council, Short North Alliance, Crawford Hoying, and the Ohio Arts Council, with additional support from us. It’s a good example of what large public art often requires: an artist at the center, surrounded by organizations and partners helping create the conditions for the work to happen.
The Columbus Arts Festival is another place where Compton lends practical support.
During the festival, Compton’s support for lift rentals helps organizers with the setup and teardown of temporary structures and signage. It’s less visible than the art filling the riverfront, but it’s part of the infrastructure required to turn a public space into an arts festival and then return it to everyday use afterward.
Construction Resources Helping Columbus Artists
Compton isn’t an arts organization, and we don’t need to be one to contribute something useful.
We know construction. We know how to work around large walls, unusual sites, equipment rentals, installation challenges, and the logistics that come with putting something ambitious into a physical space.
Artists know what they want to make.
When there’s an opportunity to put those two kinds of knowledge together, we’re happy to help.
Columbus has no shortage of people creating interesting work on its walls, in its galleries, along its alleys, and throughout its public spaces. Our part is often behind the scenes, helping remove one practical obstacle so someone else can make the thing people will actually remember.
