Wexner Center Store Offers Ohio-Grown Merchandise

New “It Came From Ohio” online store features selections from former and current Columbus residents and OSU alumni

In an effort to focus attention on locally designed products, the Wexner Center Store has launched an It Came From Ohio mini-store on its website. From T-shirts to lamps to books to tote bags, these products deliver a unique and local flavor to the Store’s offerings. Says Store manager Matt Reber: “In addition to our selection of international designs, we like to spotlight merchandise in the store that has a connection to the Columbus region.” The webpage will be updated as new merchandise hits the shelves.

HOME DÉCOR: Three LightenUp lamp designs by former OSU ceramics major Lisa Goldberg (now residing in Brooklyn, NY) are handmade, and feature her hand-drawn sketches of dogwood and flora etched into the ceramic bases. Shoppers can make a comfortable corner by pairing the lamp with the stylish, low Zoom chair (edition of 1) by Jim Edmondson for Against The Grain designs.

T-SHIRTS: For something hip to wear, a great selection of T-shirts is waiting in store: Columbus’s Chop Chop Gallery has three clever designs based on Ohio, including an industrial smokestack and a rainbow background with a heart dotting the “i.” Alison Rose contributes to the Ohio theme with an Ohio Mixtape T-shirt that has a double-reel cassette tape placed squarely in the middle of the state.

BICYCLE MESSENGER BAGS AND TOTES:  A great addition to the popular Seagull messenger bags (made out of old, vinyl exhibition banners) has arrived: new Tote Bags from Adam Maynard and Kelly Williams—also made out of exhibition banners—combine being green with the best in form and function. These come in a variety of colors, and of course, each one is unique.

WALLETS AND BELT BUCKLES:  Speaking of reusing old materials, Maxine Dear has created a collection of trendy wallets and belt buckles made out of old, hardcover books. Subjects range from nomads of the world to animals and camping.

APRONS & MORE:  Michelle Maguire has mastered the technique of screenprinting on T-shirts, aprons (with an image of Julia Child), and Polaroid canvases for Pretty Patti.

BOOKS:   Columbus-based comic artist Jeff Smith—whose work is now on view in the Wexner Center Galleries—is best known for his graphic novel Bone, a story of the adventures of young Fone Bone and his two cousins. Volumes 1-7 are now available in the Wexner Center Store. The Art of Bone and Rasl #1, a new sci-fi noir for adults, are also in stock. Fellow Ohio native and comic artist Paul Pope published his first retrospective monograph Pulphope: the Art of Paul Pope in 2007, which contains previously unseen material. The companion catalogue to OSU Professor of Art Ann Hamilton’s 1996 Wexner Center exhibition the body and the object makes another great addition for the coffee table.