Best of 2017: Wex moments

It's been a year of great experiences at the Wex. For the second year in a row, staff members are sharing some of their favorite moments from behind the scenes.  

Marisa Espe, Curatorial Assistant
"One of the very-unglamorous-but-cool tasks of the job is to act as an on-call chauffeur for visiting artists, curators, and lecturers. This past year included noteworthy riders like Nancy Rubins (pictured above), Douglas Crimp, and the Fallen Fruit duo. At the risk of sounding like a fangirl, I so welcomed shooting the shit and not talking about art with art heroes, chatting about things as commonplace as the virtues of trees with Rubins or the traffic in Rochester with Crimp."

Chris Stults, Associate Curator, Film/Video
"The Wexner Center’s premiere screening of The Preschool Poets (a collaboration between local poet Nancy Kangas, filmmaker Josh Kun, Columbus children, and animators from around the world) was an extraordinary evening of community, imagination, dedication, curiosity, and art. It was as wonderful a celebration of Columbus talent and the creative spirit as you can find!"

Jean Pitman, Youth and Community Programs Manager
"As a visual artist and an educator, it has been an enormous honor to work with an artist and an educator like Ms. Chinonye Chukwu on the project 10 Girls/10 Weeks. The passion she has for her craft is truly infectious.

"One of the most surprising things about learning to write movies is how similar it is to living a life—my own life. Writing movies is all about action and dialogue EXCLUSIVELY; how does a character “show up”? How does a character let the audience know they are happy or sad or troubled or worried through words and actions? This kind of close analysis has really forced me to ask about how I show up and how I communicate through my words and actions (or not!). It’s been a fascinating mirror for me to study my own actions and words as I study the words and actions of various characters in sample scripts we are reading in the class. I never dreamed this would happen but like all good art, the best stuff hits super close to home and I feel recognized, seen/heard.

"I am so grateful to work alongside such an accomplished artist and educator, and am using this experience to learn more about myself in addition to learning how to write a compelling film script! Not only that, but I am sharpening my teaching skills by working with a great teacher, too. Ms. Chukwu inspires all of us in so many ways AND she is TOUGH!! We all love her."

Dave Filipi, Director, Film/Video
"It was almost like seeing two different films to see Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro, a documentary structured around an unpublished James Baldwin book, in September 2016 (let’s call this ‘pre-election’) and later at the Wex in February 2017 (‘post-election’).  Rarely does a film feel so essential, whether experienced in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, or in the wake of the election of a President whose world view runs counter to everything for which Baldwin stood. It was gratifying to be able to share such a urgent film with our audience, and to have to add two additional screenings to our scheduled four, with all six selling out."