New Sculpture Set to Join Dawn Staley Statue on Senate Street’s Growing Art Corridor

The Vista’s public art footprint is about to expand again, with a new sculpture planned for the median in the 900 block of Senate Street — the same stretch that’s already home to the Dawn Staley statue. One Columbia for Arts and Culture and the Congaree Vista Guild have been gathering qualifications from South Carolina artists for the commission, backed by an $18,000 budget funded through hospitality tax dollars that will cover everything from design to fabrication, engineering, and installation.

The selection process is structured to compensate artists at every stage, not just the winner. The Vista’s public art committee will narrow submissions to three finalists, each paid $250 to develop a full proposal, before the committee selects the final design. As One Columbia public art administrator Pamela Zaljak put it, “We never do projects where we ask a for a proposal without paying the artist” — a philosophy that shapes how the whole commission is run.

Organizers are leaving the creative direction intentionally open. Rather than dictating a theme, Zaljak said they’re hoping for something “eye-catching, potentially colorful” that captures the energy of the Vista’s entertainment district, giving artists real latitude in what they submit.

The new piece will occupy the section of the median closer to Assembly Street — currently empty, unlike the opposite section, which already holds three sculptures. Organizers see room to grow the space further, floating the possibility of adding one or two more pieces, and even a bench, to eventually form a small sculpture garden. For now, though, the approach is incremental, with this commission treated as a single next step rather than part of a fixed master plan.

That existing cluster of art already gives the corridor its identity. Nearby pieces include Bob Doster’s “I Love You” sculpture — informally known as the “I love you hand” — “Her Heart,” a tribute to Columbia artist and gallerist Anastasia Chernoff, and a Peace Pole along Senate Street. The Dawn Staley statue, unveiled in 2025 near the USC Pastides Alumni Center and across from the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, anchors the same median.

The timing of this investment lines up with physical growth in the area. The former restaurant site at 931 Senate St. is being redeveloped into a seven-story, 221-unit mixed-use apartment building, adding density and foot traffic to a corridor that’s already busy. Abby Anderson, executive director of the Congaree Vista Guild, connected the two trends directly, saying, “This is a bustling corridor and we would love there to be more public art in that area.”

That growth is part of a broader vision for the district — organizers hope the sculpture collection eventually becomes a place where people linger rather than just pass through, strolling and sitting among the art as the corridor continues to develop around it.

This sculpture is only the latest piece in a larger public art push the Vista Guild has driven over the past two years. Recent additions include “The Convergence,” a wall sculpture on Park Street, and “Kaleidoscope of Columbia,” a mural at the north entrance of the Lincoln Street Tunnel. In June, a sculpture called “Traverse” was installed at the tunnel’s south entrance, and the Guild is now working on a colorful lighting installation inside the tunnel itself, planned for this fall. Anderson said that project is meant to give people another reason to use the tunnel and strengthen the physical connection between the Vista and Finlay Park.

For Anderson, the emphasis on public art isn’t just aesthetic — it’s rooted in the district’s origin story. Artists were among the first to occupy the Vista’s cheap warehouse and studio spaces back when the area was largely abandoned, and their presence helped draw people back to what’s now one of downtown Columbia’s main entertainment and hospitality districts. “We like to celebrate that as our history,” Anderson said. “And so we love that we continue to do that and appreciate the arts, and it’s just important to us.”

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