Summit Keynote
October 8
The Commons
300 Washington Street
Columbus, Indiana
Reception 5:30 pm
Program 6–7:30 pm
Free and open to the public
→ Advance registration encouraged
What does design excellence look like in large cities and rural towns?
Join two national design leaders whose work reaches from some of America’s largest cities to its smallest towns and Tribal communities for a conversation about the places we build, the people they serve, and what it takes to create lasting value.
The program begins with a welcome from Mayor Mary Ferdon and Tracy Haddad, Board Chair of Landmark Columbus Foundation, with remarks from U.S. Senator Todd Young. Courtney Spearman and Maurice Cox will deliver keynote presentations, followed by a conversation moderated by Daniel Luis Martinez.
Keynote Speaker
Maurice Cox
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Urban Planner
Maurice D. Cox is the Emma Bloomberg Professor in Residence of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where his work merges architecture, design, and politics in pursuit of equitable urban development. He served as Director of Planning and Development for the City of Detroit, where he co-authored neighborhood framework plans credited with helping reverse a 70-year population decline, and later as Commissioner of Planning and Development for the City of Chicago, where he led the INVEST South/West initiative to revitalize ten neighborhoods. His earlier public service includes terms as Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Design Director at the National Endowment for the Arts under two presidents. He has taught at Syracuse, the University of Virginia, Tulane, and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Courtney Spearman serves as Fieldwork Program Manager for Building Common Ground, a collective supporting rural and Tribal communities. She leads Fieldwork, a national program offering free design and project-development support to rural and Tribal cultural organizations, engaging a cohort of 20 communities in planning civic and cultural spaces rooted in local context. Her work brings a multidisciplinary approach to rural revitalization, collaborating across arts and design nonprofits, landscape architecture firms, and community organizations, and draws on more than a decade overseeing the design field nationwide at the National Endowment for the Arts. Spearman earned her Master of Landscape Architecture and Master of Arts in Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Art History from Rice University.
Keynote Speaker
Courtney Spearman
Washington, D.C.
Design, Arts, Cultural Advocate
Todd Young
Indianapolis, Indiana
U.S. Senator
Daniel Luis Martinez
Indianapolis, Indiana
Educator
Todd Young is the senior United States Senator from Indiana, serving since 2017. Before the Senate, he represented Indiana's 9th congressional district in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2017, and he has since built a reputation as a bipartisan problem-solver, playing a key role in passing the CHIPS and Science Act to expand domestic semiconductor production, alongside work on veterans' affairs and affordable housing. Earlier in his career, he served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, discharged as a captain. Young graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy, and also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, an M.A. from the School of Advanced Study in London, and a law degree from Indiana University.
Daniel Luis Martinez is Program Director, Director of Graduate Studies, and Associate Professor with tenure at Indiana University’s J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Rural Engagement. Daniel is an architectural designer, educator, and co-founder of LAA Office: a multi-disciplinary design studio that explores the intersection of landscape, art, and architecture. His research and creative work investigate the transformation of undervalued sites through a synthesis of public art and public space design. He has been included in Art Omi's Architecture Residency in New York for 2022, was named an Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellow in 2019 and received an AIA Henry Adams Medal in 2012. Daniel has worked at leading architectural firms, including Allied Works and Weiss/Manfredi, and his writing has been published in notable architectural journals, including Mas Context, San Rocco, Clog, and Drawing Matter.
Keynote Remarks
Keynote Remarks
It’s free to attend the Prove It Summit Keynote → Register now!
The Prove It Summit keynote event will take place at The Commons, Columbus’ downtown community and event space. Owned by the City of Columbus, The Commons is home to an indoor playground, restaurants, flexible gathering spaces, and Jean Tinguely’s kinetic sculpture Chaos I. The current building, designed by Koetter Kim with CSO Architects and completed in 2011, preserves the steel superstructure of César Pelli’s original 1973 design for the former mall.