Community Impact

Collage of several Wexner programs representing community impact

We believe in the transformative potential of the arts and strive to connect with audiences wherever they are. Through exhibitions, performances, screenings, online offerings, educational initiatives, resilience programs, and publications, the Wexner Center serves as a vital forum where artists test ideas and audiences engage with the art and issues of our time. The center is committed to breaking down barriers to participation and inviting diverse voices into the conversation.

"The Wex has been one of the forces keeping me going through all of this."
—Noah Demland, Arts & College Preparatory Academy music teacher and percussionist

Working with partner organizations, the center engages community members in various ways, including through Community Studios—a free program that involves artist-led activities for all ages in such areas as Linden and Weinland Park. Innovative school programs held in all corners of the city and state have engaged thousands of K–12 students over the years. Ohio filmmakers are invited to enter works in our annual Ohio Shorts film festival (often juried by local artists), and products by area artists (and books by regional authors) are featured in the Wexner Center Store.

The center also offers a suite of free Art & Resilience programs, such as On Pause—an ongoing series of arts-based meditation sessions (streamed or attended by 8,500 people last year) created in partnership with The Yoga Carriage @ Replenish. Other initiatives for specific groups include Vets at the Wex, a discussion-based, multiweek program for military veterans organized in partnership with Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic, as well as an arts collaboration with Sanctuary Night in Franklinton for women who have been trafficked. The center has also worked with Huckleberry House (for housing-insecure youth), Kaleidoscope Youth Center, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Maroon Arts Group, King Arts Complex, Lincoln Theatre, Columbus Museum of Art, and dozens of other organizations, large and small. As it strives to welcome a broad cross-section of the community, the center now offers free gallery admission for all visitors, with discounted parking vouchers offered for select events.