Yellow Neon Chandelier, by Dale Chihuly

Photo credit: Hadley Fruits

Columbus, Indiana is a winner in the 2024 Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards contest for best small-town arts scene. Nominations were made by an expert panel of travel writers, and the public voted for this honor.

Newsweek ranked Columbus as sixth in the nation saying:

“Given its size, it’s remarkable that Columbus, Indiana, ranks sixth in the nation for architectural innovation. The city boasts over 70 sites of amazing modernist architecture. Visitors can book a tour to catch the highlights, which include structures by Eero Saarinen, Kevin Roche and I. M. Pei. The town features three public art installations by Dale Chihuly, including the Yellow Neon Chandelier in the visitor center.”

 

Here is the full list of the best small town art scenes.

    1. Berea, KY
    2. Bay, St. Louis, MS
    3. Taos, NM
    4. Cody, WY
    5. Augustine, FL
    6. Columbus, IN
    7. Salado, TX
    8. Bloomington, IN
    9. Logan (Hocking Hills), OH
    10. Nashville, IN
Yellow Neon Chandelier, by Dale Chihuly

Photo Credit: Don Nissen

Those of us who call Columbus home know how fortunate we are to have many opportunities to enjoy the arts in this community, and visitors are blown away by our abundant abundant collection of public art and the caliber of our performing arts offerings.

We are also thrilled to see our neighboring cities of Bloomington, IN and Nashville, IN are ranked on this list! Having three cities less than an hour away on State Road 46, who all value the arts, makes our little section of Indiana a perfect place to get away and explore.

Congratulations to all our outstanding arts organizations on this honor; it’s their great work that earned us these bragging rights.

Photo credit: Hadley Fruits

David Zinn
art and architecture tour at friendship way
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