Installations created by Indiana University's J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program students provided dynamic photo backdrops for Su Casa's Diversity Gala at the Columbus Commons on Friday, November 15.  During the sold-out event, the nonprofit supporting Columbus' Latino community honored the Miller program with the 2024 Volunteer of the Year award. The award recognized the Miller students' design contributions to the gala as well as their participation in two weeks of educational programming with Su Casa's METAS summer camp program.

Miller program faculty member Ana Meza led two teams of third-year students in designing and building the site-specific installations for the gala. Students Sam Nardine, George Kirton, and Will Ziegert chose to develop a modular system using thoughtfully repurposed cardboard that was then enhanced visually by a video projection. Titled "Interlocking," their piece was intended to be lightweight, fun, and easily recyclable after the event. 

A second team comprising Jonathan Hill, Anthony Reiss, and Jim Blackstock created a custom network of plywood frames that were precisely milled and constructed using mitered joints and bolted connections. Its rhythm of shapes created a dynamic surface that was also backlit by colorful lighting through translucent screens. Titled "Mosaic Accretion," their piece was imagined as a system that can be reconfigured and reconstructed for other purposes in the future.

The Republic newspaper's coverage of the Diversity Gala is available here.

For more information please contact

Yaël Ksander
Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design
(812) 855-5512
yksander@indiana.edu