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 cross-disciplinary fields. Recent and current residency artists include choreographer and Ohio State alumna Abby Zbikowski, visual artist Carlos Motta, and multimedia artist Hope Ginsburg. 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.

The center has engaged with artists from dozens of countries and nearly every continent, presenting more than 60 premiere performances and more than 200 film premieres since opening. Works created at the center 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 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. Artists who have created work here have collected top honors, including Oscar, Tony, and Bessie awards; MacArthur Foundation “genius” grants; Cannes Film Festival awards; and National Medal of Arts awards. A comprehensive and searchable archive is currently being developed to provide access to the center’s activity and artistic output over the decades. As filmmaker Martin Scorsese has said, it’s “essential…that a place like this exists in the middle of the country away from the supposed cultural centers."