Artistic Impact

Collage of several Wexner programs representing artistic impact

By investing in artists and the creative process, the Wexner Center champions groundbreaking ideas and the spirit of exploration.

"One of those rare museum facilities committed to new works. Its commitment is at the service of high aesthetic values and a deeply felt social agenda."
Choreographer and Wexner Prize recipient Bill T. Jones

Since its opening in 1989, the center has offered significant financial, technical, and curatorial assistance for artists around the globe through more than 500 residencies and commissions, including Artist Residency Awards. This support has made possible vital and relevant new work in visual art, performing arts, film, and interdisciplinary fields. Recent and current residency artists include filmmaker Zeinabu irene Davis, visual artist Tanya Lukin Linklater, choreographer and Ohio State alumna Abby Zbikowski, multimedia artists Carlos Motta and Hope Ginsburg, and experimental theater artists James Dennen and Molly Shanahan. In addition, the internationally noted Film/Video Studio Residency Program provides support to about 20 filmmakers each year, offering postproduction services for artists at various stages of their careers. As filmmaker Martin Scorsese said, it’s “essential…that a place like this exists in the middle of the country away from the supposed cultural centers."

"For those artists who remain committed to experimentation…the early development period of a process is valued as much as the final performance."
Choreographer Tere O’Connor, on the Wex

Artists from dozens of countries and nearly every continent have presented or created work at the Wex, and the center has presented nearly 300 performance and film premieres since 1989. Works created here have gone on to tour the United States and nearly two dozen countries, including Brazil, Lebanon, France, Australia, and Japan; appeared in prestigious festivals like the Sundance Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival; and have been showcased in venues including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Film at Lincoln Center, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and theaters on Broadway. Wex artists have collected top honors, including Oscar, Tony, and Bessie awards; MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants; Cannes Film Festival awards; and the National Medal of Arts. A comprehensive and searchable archive is being developed to provide access to the center’s activity and artistic output over the decades.