Designed by the Public: Something for Everyone in Muncie
By Molly Schaller
Think of "Designed by the Public" as a playful interactive experience, courtesy of Mexico-based Tatiana Bilbao Estudio and Exhibit Columbus. This isn't your typical "look but don't touch" art installation—it's a creative free-for-all where Muncie residents get to play architect, designer, and dreamer all at once.
The boxy blue objects being installed in Muncie’s downtown Ivy Tech plaza are more than a piece of art—they're an invitation to reimagine community spaces. This interactive artwork, originally commissioned and installed in Exhibit Columbus, transforms the traditional gallery experience by providing visitors with a diverse collection of materials to use in the public space.
Exhibit Columbus’ Executive Director, Richard McCoy, and MACC board members Kim Miller and Kevin Klinger chose “Designed by the Public” to share the magic of great art and connect the two Indiana communities. “Midnight Palace,” a favorite light sculpture downtown in Dave’s Alley, also traveled from Columbus to Muncie as a way to connect the two cities. “Designed by the Public” is made to house a library of objects specific to the community in which it is installed. McCoy’s challenge to the Muncie community—"How will you make this for everyone?"—captures the artwork's essential democratic spirit. This question pushes beyond accessibility to address deeper issues of inclusion, representation, and collective ownership of public space.
Bilbao is a Mexican architect whose work centers on a fundamental question: How can public space become a platform for collective and social exchange where everyone can perform their own idea of community? In Muncie, this philosophy takes on particular resonance as the installation encourages residents to construct their visions of shared space by choosing the objects that will be in the installation’s library.
In Columbus, the piece housed yoga mats, basketballs, volleyballs, gardening tools, toys, and art supplies to serve families and children who visited the library plaza where it was installed. Various organizations sponsored different spaces in the piece and filled them with a “Library of Things to Borrow, Enjoy, and Return.” McCoy has presented a challenge to our community to “… make it something that matters to the Muncie community and connects us.”
“Designed by the Public” was made possible by a donation from the Alan Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation and offers an opportunity to demonstrate how art can facilitate meaningful dialogue and shared creation, encouraging active participation in shaping the spaces we inhabit together. Take this survey to provide your ideas about what you think should be in MuncieArts' Library of Objects!