Paving the way for something new.
Eastland's Canvas
4473-4499 Refugee Rd, Columbus, OH 43232
Project Completion: August 29, 2024
The 2024 CoLab Studio, in partnership with Directions for Youth and Families alongside the Mid-Ohio Food Collective and COTA, took an empty parking lot and transformed it into an oasis for the community members of Eastland. The site was designed as a precursor to an upcoming community resource hub: the Eastland Prosperity Center, which is to open in 2026.
INTRODUCING
Eastland's
Canvas
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Mid-Ohio Food Collective and Directions for Youth & Families
An effort to breath life into a vacant
lot in Columbus
6 weeks.
12 interns.
One site.
VISIT
Eastland's Canvas is open to the public, dawn to dusk, for all to enjoy. The project is on the east side of the parking lot of 4473-4499 Refugee Rd in Columbus.
You can get off COTA route 5 at stop 3242 or park with reasonable distance away from the site.
12 Interns.
12 high school students, many of them strangers, met with one goal: to do something good. Columbus is their home. Through the CoLab Studio, they were given the chance to do something that changes culture, inspires the future, and grows their character.
"When you actually go out there and do it,
you feel something
in your heart."
- Dilynn J. (Youth Colab Intern)
Week 1
Interns are introduced to topics such as city planning, architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, visual communication design, and more.
They engage in numerous challenges to strengthen their understanding of design.
Week 2
Interns meet with representative from project client, the Mid-Ohio Food Collective.
They are broken off into groups and begin dissecting the needs of the client and the community. Interns also begin compiling their own resumes and portfolios.
Week 3
Interns continue to work in groups, honing in their design and presentation skills. At this point in the program, the interns have spoken and engaged with numerous industry professionals to both network and strengthen their projects.
Week 4
After finalizing their design proposals, interns present their work to a jury of client representatives and design professionals. They then took the critiques from this experience and came upon a final design.
Week 5
Project implementation has begun! Through tiring mornings and hot afternoons, the interns laid miles worth of paint onto the asphalt of our activation site in Eastland.
Week 6
Final week! Finishing touches are being put on the site. The interns were assembling planters, laying topsoil, and planting greens to conclude the project.
Project completion.
Just in time, Eastland's Canvas is finally complete. In just 6 short weeks, our CoLab Studio interns were challenged to do something they've never done before; design, iterate, defend, produce, and implement.
We look forward to the opening of the Eastland Prosperity Center in 2026! Until then, enjoy Eastland's Canvas.
"If we make it a space where everyone feels joy, there's no space for shame."
- Anna S. (Youth Colab Intern)
"After all these years, the community is still strong."
- Mohamed B. (Youth Colab Intern)
"To see people come together because of what we did to this space is really rewarding."
- Ahli D. (Youth Colab Intern)
View the CoLab Studio 24 gallery.
See the moments across the 6 weeks of the CoLab Studio Internship.
Thank you to the generous supporters of the '24 CoLab Studio
The Youth CoLab is entirely funded by the generous financial and in-kind donations by committed community members and civic organizations. Interested in supporting the Youth CoLab and its programs? Contact glennon@columbusndc.org.
