Goodale Park has always been the kind of place where something is happening, even when nothing is officially scheduled. People reading under trees, pickup games, a quiet walk around the pond, or a full-on festival weekend. It is one of those spaces that feels like it belongs to everyone.
Now, it is getting something new to explore.
After two years of planning, meetings, and a pretty competitive artist search, Friends of Goodale Park has announced four permanent art installations that will soon call the park home.
Art Shaped by the Community
The project started in early 2024 with a volunteer committee that set out to bring public art into one of Columbus’ most recognizable green spaces. They secured funding, identified locations throughout the park, and opened up submissions to artists.
The response was strong. A total of 76 artists applied, including local talent and international creatives. From there, six finalists were selected and asked to develop full proposals. By late 2025, four artists and their works were chosen.
Each piece reflects a slightly different perspective on connection, growth, and the role Goodale Park plays in daily life.
Dillon Beck’s Traversal is designed as both a sculpture and a passageway, something you can walk through as much as look at. Lelia Byron’s Reaching Out uses tree-like forms to explore connection, both human and natural. Maxwell Emcays’ The Growth leans into organic shapes and layered patterns to reflect how people and nature evolve together over time. And Virginia Kistler’s untitled piece draws directly from the energy of the park itself, inspired by the movement, gatherings, and shared experiences that happen there every day.
You can see renderings of all of the pieces here.
A Park With a Long Memory
Adding art to Goodale Park feels fitting when you consider how much history is already built into the space.
The park dates back to 1851, when Dr. Lincoln Goodale donated the land to the city. When it opened, it was one of the largest public parks in the country. Just a few years later, it briefly transformed into Camp Jackson, a staging ground for Union troops during the Civil War. At its peak, thousands of soldiers passed through, including future presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley.
Since then, the park has gone through a little bit of everything. There were proposals to turn parts of it into major developments. There were years when it fell into disrepair. And there were also moments when the community stepped in to shape what it would become, including the creation of Friends of Goodale Park in the 1980s.
Today, it is home to everything from ComFest to casual afternoon hangouts, with the pond, gazebo, and tree-lined paths acting as a backdrop to it all.
Something New to Notice
The addition of permanent public art adds another layer to a park that already has a lot going on. It gives people something to stumble upon, something to pause at, something to interact with in a space they already know well.
And that might be the best part. You do not have to plan a visit around it. You can just be walking through the park like you always do and find something new waiting for you.
In a place like Goodale, that feels exactly right. You can keep up with all of the progress by visiting friendsofgoodalepark.org.
Featured image by Jsjessee via Flickr, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
