In October, the AGAR team joined artist Gee Horton and BLINK Executive Director Leslie Mooney at CODAsummit 2025 in Washington, DC. The annual summit gathers artists, designers, technologists, curators, city leaders, and creative producers who are shaping the future of public art. It’s a meeting point for the people redefining how art lives in public spaces, and how those spaces, in turn, shape the way we move, feel, and connect.

During our session, we presented BLINK as the nation’s largest public art experience and shared insight into how cities can use large-scale, multi-sensory storytelling to spark civic pride, generate economic impact, and foster a deeper sense of community belonging. From interactive light installations to projection mapping that transforms entire blocks, BLINK served as a case study for how temporary creative interventions can catalyze long-term change.

Here are a few ideas from the summit that continue to resonate:

Public art is increasingly being woven into airports, transit hubs, trail systems, and other everyday environments, not simply as beautification, but as intentional moments of pause, connection, and delight. Cities are recognizing that design can foster emotional resonance even in places known for stress or monotony. The goal isn’t just to make spaces look better, but to make them feel better, to spark wonder, shift energy, and enhance the human experience of moving through the world.

A recurring theme across sessions was the power of temporary work. Short-term installations can create lasting emotional and cultural impact without permanent infrastructure or long construction timelines. This echoed the stories we shared in our BLINK presentation, how a fleeting moment of collective experience can become part of a city’s memory, identity, and narrative. Ephemeral art, when done intentionally, can act as a catalyst for long-term investment, renewed community pride, and deeper civic engagement.

Communities are responding most strongly to work that reflects their own histories, materials, people, and rhythms. Art that feels of a place, not simply placed in it. Across panels, we heard about projects that prioritize community-led narratives, long-term relationship building, and social resonance over spectacle alone. For our public art studio, this reinforced something we hold central, that storytelling doesn’t end when an installation goes up. Documenting, sharing, and extending the story behind the work is just as critical as the piece itself.