We succeed together: Transfigurations, collaborations, and the EXPY Awards

By Sherri Geldin

Earlier this week, the Wex was honored to receive an Experience Columbus EXPY Award for our once-in-a-lifetime exhibition Transfigurations: Modern Masters from the Wexner Family Collection. Experience Columbus CEO Brian Ross calls recipients of the Expy “role models for creativity and collaboration in our community,” and we are delighted to find ourselves recognized among fellow recipients Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon, The Ohio State University football team, Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, Scioto Downs Racino, and Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

Transfigurations was a record-breaking exhibition for us by all measures: more than 120,000 visitors (from 36 states and five countries), nearly 12,000 K–12 students guided through the galleries, and an ever-flowing line of tour groups. It was the signature moment of our 25^th Anniversary Season, only made possible by an extraordinary gesture on the part of Leslie and Abigail Wexner to literally empty their home of remarkable treasures by Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, and others in order to share them with the Columbus community and the world.  

To bring full circle Brian’s theme of the civic collaboration that so permeates Columbus, Transfigurations could never have achieved its success without the robust partnership of so many individuals and organizations. Our colleagues across Ohio State, Experience Columbus, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Columbus Partnership, the Columbus Foundation, Columbus 2020, and Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s office were all fantastic partners in making Transfigurations a major destination for residents and visitors alike. And our lead presenting sponsors—L Brands, Huntington Bank, and Wolfe Associates, Inc.—contributed to making the exhibition and our entire 25^th anniversary a real triumph—for the center, the university, and the community. Now that’s creative collaboration at its finest!