CCAD students’ art covers electric vehicle chargers

Smart Columbus, together with Columbus College of Art & Design, the Columbus Foundation, and Greenspot, dedicated Columbus’ first DC fast electric vehicle chargers available in a public right-of-way and open to public use in January 2020.

“Columbus is now the fastest-growing market for EVs in the Midwest. Not only does this benefit our local air quality and our community’s impact on climate change, but it reinforces Columbus’ leadership in the adoption and advancement of new technologies,” said Mandy Bishop, City of Columbus project manager for Smart Columbus. “Dedicating public space to EV charging shows that we’re a progressive and tech-forward community, and will help to continue to drive our community’s continued adoption of these vehicles.”

Two DC fast EV charging stations, which each have two outlets allowing up to four vehicles to plug-in at any time and automatically charge in succession, are located on Fulton Street west of South 4th Street near the Brewery District neighborhood. DC fast chargers can fully charge long-range electric vehicles in about 30 minutes, but until now have not been available in a public setting in Columbus.

This project is a significant milestone in the deployment of Columbus’s electric vehicle infrastructure and supports the vision of the $10 million Paul G. Allen Family Foundation grant awarded through the Smart City Challenge, and the space for the new charging stations was made available by the City of Columbus.

“We are very excited to launch our first electric vehicle charging stations in the Midwest through our partnership with the City of Columbus and The Columbus Partnership,” said Greenspot COO Michael Mazur. “Columbus continues to prove itself as a leading city, creating a precedent and paving the way for cleaner, more efficient transportation options in cities throughout the United States.”

The chargers are shrouded in a work of public art created by four CCAD students—Dennis Baek, Claudia Jackson, Alexandra Sauer, and Jessica Willmore—whose designs were chosen through a competition held in their Advertising & Graphic Design class. The art features dazzling neon lights that glow around the chargers. Smart Columbus commissioned the art to promote artistic expression while expanding awareness of EV charging availability in the community.

“Columbus College of Art & Design equips students with the skills they need to change culture and commerce and drive the creative economy of the future,” said Dr. Melanie Corn, President of Columbus College of Art & Design. “We were thrilled to partner with Smart Columbus so our students could show off their talent, bring art to public charging stations, and gain real-world experience.”

Art for the EV chargers was funded by the Joseph A. Jeffrey Endowment Fund through the Columbus Foundation. The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company had close ties to the coal industry as the world’s largest manufacturer of mining machinery in the late 1800’s. The fund, originally established in 1919, is used to support nonprofit organizations in Columbus and throughout Franklin County.

Read more about the project in The Dispatch.