Wexner Center for the Arts secures over $230,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) announced grant awards for 2023, totaling $31,509,007 for museums across the nation to improve services to their communities. Among the 218 recipients is the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University.  

This year’s award marks the single highest amount ever received by the center from IMLS: just over $230,000 through the program Museums Empowered: Professional Development Opportunities for Museum Staff, a special initiative of the Museums for America grant program. It is designed to support projects that use the transformative power of professional development and training to generate systemic change within institutions of all types and sizes. The Wex is one of less than 20 museums to receive funding through this program for this cycle.  

Over two years, the grant will support a redesign of the center’s website, as well as the hiring of additional staff, professional development, and securing other resources. These efforts will optimize and expand the center’s digital accessibility for audiences with disabilities of all kinds, with consideration of both visitors to the center and virtual audiences around the world.  

"It’s such a generous grant, I’m still picking my jaw off the floor,” notes Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall. “We have plans for how best to apply this funding: building more structure and support for digital accessibility, continuing our work with a Cross-disability Community Advisory Group, and expanding accessible programming happening at the center to include more audiences in the exchange of ideas about contemporary art. I’ve been dreaming of this opportunity and I’m so excited to amplify accessibility at the Wex.” 

“This grant reflects a recognition of the care and longstanding dedication that Helyn and her colleagues around the center bring to this work,” says Executive Director Gaëtane Verna. “It involves virtually every department collaborating to provide the best experience for everyone who engages with the Wex and its programming. We are excited to build on the exceptional work that’s already been done.” 

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services 
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America's museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. IMLS envisions a nation where individuals and communities have access to museums and libraries to learn from and be inspired by the trusted information, ideas, and stories they contain about our diverse natural and cultural heritage. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.