This Is Our City

Ohio Stadium is a monument to one of the most celebrated teams of college football. A nearly 100-year-old colossus designed after the Parthenon in Rome, the stadium draws over 100,000 fans decked in red and grey sweatshirts and face paint to cheer on their beloved Buckeyes. As Columbus native Matt Martin explains in this short film (crafted in response to our monuments video), "The Shoe" has become the hub for a community searching for strength, unity, and belonging in a diverse and fragmented city. But does their fan performance inside the stadium have any bearing on their common flourishing outside of it? How do sports in your own hometown facilitate—or hinder—shalom?

Deborah Gregory is a documentary filmmaker living in Columbus, Ohio, whose recent work includes the feature documentary film Saving Carren.