A message from the Interim Directors

November 2022

You may have seen recent reports on how the museum space can serve as a resource for health and resilience programs. Here’s a handy recap of some of that research from the folks at MuseumNext. 

These studies frequently reveal a common theme: museums can and often do benefit one’s well-being. And they do so across a variety of areas, including anxiety management, resiliency, and learning, to name but a few. We aren’t surprised by this research, but are heartened to see the science back up what we’ve always known to be true: art—and access to it—provides a doorway to expand our thinking, our awareness, and in turn, our pathways to health. Art provides a freedom to ask the questions we often can’t or won’t ask in certain settings, and that freedom creates a generative moment that can challenge, enlighten, or comfort us. 

At the Wex, curators and staff remain committed to the work of wellness through ongoing programs as well as through focused exhibitions, performances, and film series. Our Department of Art & Resilience’s new Drawn Together program provides a place for connection and creation, as does its long-standing On Pause art and meditation sessions. The Learning & Public Practice team fosters curiosity and mindfulness for all ages through YogArts, among many other classes and workshops. And in 2023, our galleries, stages, and screens will similarly offer opportunities that can help us process our changing world. Whether it’s Meditation Ocean, an Artist Residency Award–supported exhibition that synthesizes research on wellness and climate change into an immersive space of contemplation; Ontroerend Goed’s stunning theater work that helps us envision humanity’s possible futures; or an upcoming film series that looks at end-of-life issues, the Wex always aims to offer a safe and inclusive space for critical examination, care, and conversation—no matter how big the issue. Please join us in enjoying all the benefits contemporary art has to offer. 

October 2022

Each year, the Wex is thrilled to provide support for artists through our Artist Residency Awards. For more than three decades, artist residencies have been a pillar of the Wex’s programing and one of the key examples of our mission to fuel creative expression across multiple disciplines. The program has facilitated the development of groundbreaking, internationally recognized work from hundreds of artists around the world such as Barbara Hammer, Mark Bradford, Sam Green, the SITI Company, and Faye Driscoll. Most recently, you’ve likely seen the culmination of residency projects in jaamil olawale kosoko’s Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage, Carlos Motta’s Your Monsters, Our Idols (now on view), and Cinetracts ’20. It’s an extraordinary lineup.  

This year's artist residency announcement is no exception. We’re honored to recognize a dozen artists in the fields of Film/Video, Learning & Public Practice, Performing Arts, and Visual Arts through significant financial and technical assistance for the creation of new pieces. The wide variety of endeavors touch on documenting alternate histories, challenging dominant cultural narratives, and developing dynamic new ways for artists to engage with communities. We hope you follow along in the months to come as these residencies evolve. 

Sharing underrepresented voices has long been a key component of the center’s programs, and this October brings just such an example via the Ohio premiere of Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues’s Fúria. Through movement that’s both visceral and beautiful, this dazzling dance production tells a story about the constraints of racism and social segregations. Rodrigues is a key figure behind Centro de Artes da Maré, an arts center serving one of Rio’s largest favelas, and Furia is a raw, emotional expression of the diversity and culture of that community. The performance is part of our ongoing partnership with the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) and debuts on October 21 and 22. 

The month wraps up with a returning favorite: Unorthodocs. This annual festival of nonfiction filmmaking is back and fully in person with one of its most compelling lineups yet. With an array of visiting filmmakers—including Ahmed Hassan, Rita Baghdadi, and Charlie Shackleton—and 14 films that expand the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, the festival kicks off on October 27. 

As always, you can check out what else is on deck this month by perusing our online calendar. 

We cannot bring audiences these risk-taking programs without your support, so thank you for your ongoing commitment to the Wex. 

September 2022

We were thrilled to recently announce the appointment of the Wex’s new executive director, Gaëtane Verna! She joins us November 15 from The Power Plant in Toronto where she has served as director and artistic director since 2012. It is a delight knowing Gaëtane will soon be here to build on the Wex’s history and work alongside our remarkable team to guide the center into the future. Get up to speed on Gaëtane’s vital experience and pending arrival. 

Our 2022–23 season continues full steam ahead. September brings our most dynamic lineup of in-person programming since the prepandemic days of early 2020. When you have a moment, visit our season preview page for a lineup of upcoming programs. But in the meantime here are a few upcoming highlights this month. 

On September 15, join us to launch our fall exhibitions, which highlight voices working to counter dominant cultural narratives. Carlos Motta: Your Monsters, Our Idols is the artist’s largest exhibition in the US to date and premieres Motta’s Wex-supported installation The Columbus Assembly—which directly engages with the naming of Columbus, Ohio. And Sharing Circles: Carol Newhouse and the WomanShare Collective is the first museum exhibition of Newhouse’s work chronicling the Women’s Land movement. 

The popular Lambert Family Lecture is also on deck, coming September 16. Hear from acclaimed author Saeed Jones as he celebrates the release of his new book in a conversation moderated by poet Maggie Smith. This free talk is offered both in person at the Wex and online. 

Looking for a family-friendly way to sample what the center has to offer? Stop by our free Wex Open House festival on September 21 for music and dance performances, hands-on activities, drop-in gallery experiences, Sundance Film Festival shorts, snacks, and more. 

Wrapping up the month is the return of longtime Wex friend, filmmaker Sam Green. Green visits to celebrate 25 years in filmmaking with several screenings of his documentaries—many of them supported by the center’s Film/Video Studio—through the end of October. The retrospective features the Ohio premiere of 32 Sounds, his extraordinary new documentary about the power of sound, narrated by Green on stage with live music on September 29. We’re also excited to share that for this and select upcoming programs, the Wex will offer a lower-cost access ticket to help remove barriers to enjoying the performing arts. 

As always, our work would simply not be possible without your enthusiasm and engagement—we hope to see you soon! 

August 2022

Though we’re nearing the dog days of summer, things at the Wex are ramping up. Students—along with their energy and enthusiasm—are returning to Ohio State’s campus, and we’re thrilled to invite them back. Meanwhile, our fall lineup is undergoing its finishing touches. Get a sneak peek of our 2022–23 season—the first full schedule of in-person programming since the start of the pandemic. And start marking your calendars for a dynamic mix of theater, music, talks, film, and more.

Summer at the Wex isn’t over yet, though. Far from it!

Our Federico Fellini film series has drawn sizable crowds excited to experience the legendary filmmaker’s works on the big screen—many in beautiful new restorations. The series wraps on August 18, but you can still catch three more screenings, including the classic Roma. If the series has made a Fellini fan out of you (or if you’re a longtime admirer), check out our brief podcast introducing Fellini and his profound influence, featuring Film/Video Director Dave Filipi.

Before catching the last Fellini double feature, take a trip to the imaginative world of Sid Krofft with two special (and rare) screenings of Pufnstuf, the big screen version of the legendary television series H.R. Pufnstuf. Later in the month, we’ll take a supernatural turn with two contemporary cult horror classics. Jennifer’s Body, screening on August 26, is a witty, ahead-of-its-time horror/comedy panned upon release but saved by queer and feminist audiences. Screening the next night is A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, a startlingly original Iranian vampire film copresented with the Ohio State student group Cinéseries.

August also marks the final days of Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage. Curated by Wex Artist Residency Award–recipient jaamil olawale kosoko, this extraordinary exhibition—presenting new works by a constellation of artists—is the culmination of their three-year long residency. It’s been an honor experiencing kosoko’s vision unfold, and we hope you find the time to explore this interdisciplinary exhibition before it ends August 14. And don’t forget that gallery admission is now free when we’re open, so it’s more accessible than ever to immerse yourself in our galleries.

We’re also thrilled to announce a new partnership with our friends at the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA), who will copresent three Ohio premieres: the powerful and joyous music collective Damon Locks’s Black Monument Ensemble, acclaimed Brazilian choreographer Lia Rodrigues’s Fúria, and Belgian theater ensemble Ontroerend Goed’s Are we not drawn onward to new erA. Tickets are available now!

It's already shaping up to be an unforgettable year, and we know it’s not possible without you. Thank you for supporting us; we hope to see you soon!

July 2022

We hope you had a great holiday weekend and are rested, relaxed, and ready for summer programming at the Wex. 

On July 7, we kick off our Retrospective: Federico Fellini series, a 12-film tribute to one of the world’s most influential filmmakers. This sweeping lineup includes classics like La dolce vita (1960) and 8½ (1963) alongside less-screened titles like Il bidone (1955). Escape the heat and treat yourself to these treasures of world cinema all summer long—the series runs through August 18! 

We are also pleased to announce that on July 16, after a pandemic-related pause, we’re finally able to present the Columbus premiere of award-winning director Annie Dorsen’s Yesterday Tomorrow. In this “funny, joyous, and twisting journey of sense to nonsense and back to sense again” (Exeunt Magazine), three vocalists sight-read an algorithmically generated score that moves from “Yesterday” by the Beatles to “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie. The show is one night only at the Riffe Center’s Davidson Theatre. Celebrate the spontaneity of live performance and get your tickets today! 

Taking the exploration of algorithm in still other directions, artist Imma Asher and Ohio State professor of queer studies Jian Chen explore the political and personal projects that draw artists to digital media as a means of expression. On July 20, they’ll present Valences of the Algorithm, a talk broadcast on Instagram Live and introduced by jaamil olawale kosoko, Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipient and guest curator of our exhibition Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage. Tune in at 2 PM for this lively event—the first in a two-part summer series—followed by a Q&A moderated by kosoko. 

And finally, just a reminder that Wex gallery admission is now free all the time, for everyone.Whether you have 20 minutes or an hour, drop by Portal For(e) and be inspired by this diverse set of installations that center Black feminist voices. Enhance your visit (and your worldview) with some reading from our Syllabus for Black Love Library that expands on the exhibition’s key themes. 

We hope your summer plans include repeat trips to the Wex.

June 2022

You’re receiving our monthly Directors’ Message a bit early because we have big news to share—and we want you to be among the first to know about it. 

We are thrilled to announce that effective next month gallery admission at the Wexner Center will be free for everyone, every day. Please join us in thanking donors American Electric Power Foundation, Adam Flatto, Mary and C. Robert Kidder, Bill and Sheila Lambert, CoverMyMeds, and the PNC Foundation for generously making free galleries a reality.  

This giant step toward accessibility comes just in time for the June 10 opening of our summer exhibition Portal For(e) the Ephemeral Passage, guest curated by Wex Artist Residency Award recipient jaamil olawale kosoko. Portal For(e) amplifies Black feminist voices in contemporary art and performance through a diverse set of installations and interconnected events informed by everything from queer theory to sacred rituals of intimacy and wellness.  

In addition to works by olawale kosoko, this multifaceted suite of shows features new projects by nora chipaumire, Jennifer Harge and Devin Drake, Dana Michel, Jasmine Murrell, and Keioui Keijaun Thomas. Celebrate the exhibition opening at our Preview Party on Thursday, June 9, 4–7 PM, which kicks off a week of opening programs across the center through June 18. Stay tuned to wexarts.org for more details. 

In other big news, we are incredibly pleased to share that dramatically discounted parking for Wex performing arts, film/video, and other select events is now available thanks to a new partnership with Ohio State’s parking garage operator CampusParc. When you purchase an event ticket online, you will have the option to reserve a parking sticker that reduces your parking fee to $2. Reserved stickers can be picked up at the Visitor Experience Desk the day of your event and presented upon leaving the garage for unprecedented savings. 

Reducing the cost of parking further eliminates barriers to participation at the Wex, and it is our sincere hope that this allows all of us to be inspired by the power of art, encounter new ideas, engage in meaningful conversations, and even find a balm in the midst of tragedy.  

We are grateful that these measures are in place for you as we also announce our return to a full slate of in-person programming for the 2022–23 season. Check out our robust lineup of interdisciplinary collaborations featuring contemporary visual art, film, dance, music, theater, talks, wellness programs, and more. Read what our Ohio State partners are saying about our work, watch a video of friends of the Wex sharing what increased access to art means to them, and help us celebrate a new season—and a new day—for the Wex.  

We look forward to your visit! 

May 2022

As the academic year winds down at Ohio State, we at the Wex are also wrapping up some of our rewarding yearlong partnerships with K–12 schools. Each year, our Pages literacy program engages hundreds of students from urban, rural, and suburban high schools and invites them to encounter Wex exhibitions, films, and performances alongside in-class sessions with Wex educators and guest artists. The intensive experience culminates with an Open Mic poetry reading—our festive event just took place last week—and a professionally designed anthology of the students’ art and writing. Take a peek at the most recent edition of Pages and see what our amazing youth have to say. 

But the year is not over yet. On May 5, we’ll kick off the monthlong series Mifune + Okamoto celebrating the legendary Japanese actor Toshirō Mifune, who starred in such Akira Kurosawa epics as Rashōmon and Seven Samurai, and his lesser-known collaborations with director Kihachi Okamoto, a prolific Toho studio vet. Though most associated with action movies—think gangsters and sword-wielding samurai—Okamoto also had a flair for comedy, plot twists, and surprise endings. This series promises all of that and more; if you love a good story you’ll not be disappointed! 

We’re also excited to announce that on May 16 we’ll host the innovative Chicago-based jazz drummer and producer Makaya McCraven and band in Mershon Auditorium as they perform in support of their recent record, Deciphering the Message. Utilizing the tools of hip-hop, McCraven is a master of collaging sound and looping beats, and this latest project—described as “a sprawling love letter to the history of jazz” (uDiscoverMusic.com)—blends tracks from the historic Blue Note label with his own live sessions. Bring the whole family to this feel-good tribute to the history of Black music in America. 

And finally, we wanted to let you know that new developments are underway at the Wex as we emerge from (what we hope is) the worst of the pandemic. Watch your inboxes as we roll out some exciting announcements later this month. 

Until then, we look forward to seeing you at a film or performance or strolling through our galleries before our To Begin, Again exhibition closes this Sunday!

April 2022

In this month’s note, we’d like to call your attention to some of the crucial (though sometimes less visible) work we do at the Wex to reach diverse audiences and promote self-care, empowerment, and education through art. 

Serving a variety of communities—from those who have experienced brain/mind trauma and women emerging from incarceration to the general public—our Art & Resilience programming is focused on cultivating mindfulness and healing from injuries both physical and emotional. Available to all, our popular On Pause meditation series, developed in partnership with The Yoga Carriage @ Replenish, offers a weekly opportunity to relax while enjoying contemporary art’s therapeutic possibilities. And monthly YogArts workshops encourage families to enjoy the benefits of stretching and meditation together. Both programs are presented free of charge on wexarts.org.  

Art & Resilience is directed by longtime Wex staff member Tracie McCambridge, who recently received a Community Engaged Practitioner Award from Ohio State. Read more about Tracie and the transformative work she oversees on our blog. If you or someone you know would like to get involved, please reach out to her.  

Out and about in the community, our Department of Learning & Public Practice team led by Dionne Custer Edwards is engaging youth and families where they live. Learn about the fantastic work LPP is developing alongside the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department to provide free art classes at Columbus’s Linden Community Center. And explore LPP’s vast array of free workshops, gallery tours, author readings, film screenings, artist talks, K–12 educational experiences, and more here. 

And finally, we’d like to call your attention to our upcoming DeeDee and Herb Glimcher Lecture, which takes place tomorrow, April 6, in the Wex Film/Video Theater. This year’s speaker is architect Kimberly Dowdell, who will discuss the urgent issues of climate action, social equity, and how the built environment can maximize human potential while minimizing environmental impact. 

Each year this lecture series, generously endowed by the Glimchers, features some of the world’s leading artists, architects, and designers. This year’s talk will help us understand how sustainability can help build a better future. For even more exciting spring events, check out the center’s calendar. 

We hope to see you soon! 

March 2022

As we transition out of the depths of winter and into the light of spring, we’ve got some invigorating Wex events on tap to fuel the anticipation.  

We’re thrilled that after a two-year, pandemic-related delay, avant-garde trumpeter and composer jaimie branch and her FLY or DIE quartet will finally make their Columbus debut on March 22 in our Performance Space. With FLY or DIE, branch has been delivering riveting live shows that incorporate throaty vocalizing and fiery social commentary along with the “ghostly sounds” of her masterful horn playing (New York Times). Get your tickets now; jaimie branch: FLY or DIE is here for one night only—and seating is limited.

Speaking of events that sell out quickly, the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour—wildly popular with Wex audiences since 2006—arrives March 29–30. Each night features a completely different lineup of inspiring outdoor adventure filmmaking from around the world, including snowboarding, skiing, climbing, BASE jumping, and more. You’ll want to move fast to secure your tickets!  

Be sure to RSVP for the upcoming Director’s Dialogue on Art and Social Change, which takes place virtually on March 9. Titled 400Forward, this year’s event features an important group of Black voices representing the arts, humanities, and sciences: Hanif Abdurraqib, Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother), Anaïs Duplan, Rasheedah Phillips, and moderator Kimberly Drew. This inspirational panel will help us catalyze thinking about the future of Africans in America and envision the creation of a more equitable and inclusive society.  

In other news, we are excited to announce that the Wexner Center will partner with Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme on the upcoming cross-disciplinary series On Possibility: Social Change and the Arts + Humanities, published by The Ohio State University Press. You can read more about this exciting collaboration here.  

And finally, if wintry weather has kept you from visiting our exhibition To Begin, Again: A Prehistory of the Wex, 1968–89, we hope that warmer temps will encourage you to experience this fascinating look at Ohio State history. Find information to plan your visit here.

Looking forward to seeing you this spring at the Wex.

February 2022

We’re thrilled to invite you to the Wexner Center this Friday, February 4, for our Winter Exhibition Preview celebrating To Begin, Again: A Prehistory of the Wex, 1968–89, a rare look at 20th-century artworks collected by or presented at Ohio State during the 1970s and ’80s. Join curator Daniel Marcus at 5:30 PM in Mershon Auditorium for a conversation about the university’s entwined legacies of artistic experimentation and grassroots activism with panelists Jerri Allyn, Stephanie Blackwood, Julian Myers-Szupinska, and Mark Svede, then browse the galleries to experience more than 80 works by artists such as Futura2000, Eva Hesse, Adrian Piper, and Sol LeWitt. This fascinating exhibition captures Ohio State’s emergence as a laboratory of avant-garde culture and a platform for dialogue and dissent—you don’t want to miss it!

Just a reminder that later this month, February 24–28, we’ll once again revel in the art and practice of film restoration as we host (in person this year!) the eighth-annual Cinema Revival: A Festival of Film Restoration. The perfect way to spend a cold-weather weekend, the festival features visits from film restoration experts, plus an exciting lineup of works by Vittorio De Sica, Nina Menkes, Douglas Sirk, and many others.

We’d also like you to mark your calendars for two important upcoming lectures. On March 9, we’ll host the 2022 Director’s Dialogue on Art and Social Change, titled 400Forward, featuring Hanif Abdurraqib, Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother), Anaïs Duplan, Rasheedah Phillips, and moderator Kimberly Drew. Panelists will examine 400 years of Africans in America and imagine what being Black can mean in the future. On April 6, our DeeDee and Herb Glimcher Lecture spotlights architect Kimberly Dowdell, who will discuss how the built environment can maximize human potential while minimizing environmental impact. We are ever grateful to our generous sponsors DeeDee and Herb Glimcher for their unwavering support and endowment of this important lecture series.

And finally, we are enormously pleased to announce that the Wexner Center will receive a $150,000 American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, an award designed to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. These much-needed funds will greatly assist us as we move forward despite ongoing pandemic-related challenges.

We hope to see you in our galleries Friday for To Begin, Again and at programming and events throughout the coming months. Please know we’ll continue to have protocols in place to ensure your visit is as safe and enjoyable as possible.

January 2022

We write to wish you a very happy new year! Here at the Wex, there’s so much to look forward to as 2022 ramps up.

Opening February 5, our winter exhibition To Begin, Again: A Prehistory of the Wex, 1968–89 explores the cultural currents that led to the center’s founding and spotlights impressive yet little-seen highlights from our permanent collection. Get ready for a rare look at dozens of 20th-century artworks collected by or presented at Ohio State during the 1970s and ’80s—works by artists Futura2000, Eva Hesse, Adrian Piper, Sol LeWitt, Frank Stella, and many others. Read more about the show from curator Daniel Marcus.

That same weekend, with our galleries fully activated, we’re pleased to announce that after a pandemic-related pause we’re finally able to present award-winning director Annie Dorsen’s Yesterday Tomorrow in the Performance Space. In this “funny, joyous, and twisting journey of sense to nonsense and back to sense again” (Exeunt Magazine), three vocalists sight-read an algorithmically generated score based on “Yesterday” by the Beatles and “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie. It’s a marvel you won’t want to miss!

Things will also be lively in the Film/Video Theater starting January 14 when we’ll feature the series Soundtrack by Herbie Hancock, a look the phenomenal Grammy award–winning jazz musician and bandleader through his movie scores from the 1960s–90s. This unsung collection is not only a riveting musical catalogue but also provides a fascinating window into Black film history. Now in its eighth year, Cinema Revival: A Festival of Film Restoration returns February 24–28. This annual weekend celebrating the art and practice of film restoration welcomes back experts Lee Kline (Criterion Collection) and Tim Lanza (Cohen Film Collection) and features restored films by the likes of Vittorio De Sica, Nina Menkes, Sarah Maldoror, and Douglas Sirk. And lastly, our monthly, online YogArts series resumes January 15; relax and stretch with your family from the comfort of home! 

With so much happening at the Wex this winter, from exhibitions to live performance and films, we hope you’ll stop by and make a day of it: browse the exhibition, see a film, grab a snack at Heirloom Café, and peruse postholiday deals in the Wexner Center Store. We've put protocols in place to help keep you safe, including masking in all indoor spaces and reduced capacity to allow for safe distancing. And remember: gallery admission is free with your ticket to any Wex event.

We hope to see you soon and often!

December 2021

As we head into the final weeks of the year, we wanted to take a moment to express our gratitude to you for your ongoing support and interest in the Wex. We have been energized to have so many of you join us in person for a film, performance, talk, or a stroll through the galleries and continue to appreciate the many ways we are able to connect online as well. These opportunities to come together through the arts in any format continue to motivate us and our work here at the Wex.

This month is especially exciting—and not just because we find ourselves in the midst of the holiday season where fellowship and gratitude are hopefully the order of the day. To encourage you to stop by before the new year, we’ve got a few opportunities made possible by our generous supporters that we know will inspire a visit.

This Sunday, our music series wraps up 2021 with an intimate performance by two of experimental music’s most riveting artists: Mary Lattimore and Walt McClements. If you’ve experienced our in-person performances by Grammy nominee Arooj Aftab or legendary guitarist Marc Ribot, you’ve seen and heard firsthand how music in Mershon Auditorium is a captivating, communal experience while providing plenty of space to socially distance. To help celebrate being together for our last concert in 2021, you can pick up an extra ticket to the show for a friend for free when you purchase yours (be sure to add two tickets to your cart online to enjoy this offer).

On December 11, the Zoom: Family Film Festival returns for a day full of films from around the world, plus activities, tours, and a few other surprises. This year’s Zoom is entirely free with a single ticket and will be held in Mershon to ensure safe spacing and ample room to enjoy this annual favorite. Masks will be required for all guests over the age of three.

The year rounds out with the closing week of Jacqueline Humphries: jHΩ1:), a milestone exhibition featuring an array of works by the vanguard painter. Admission will be free for everyone December 27–January 2, making it a perfect postholiday or new year treat.

We couldn’t do what we do without you and we hope to see you and yours at the Wex soon!

November 2021

You’ve likely heard that we have been asked to lead the Wexner Center as co-interim executive directors during the search for Johanna Burton’s replacement—and we’re deeply honored to serve in this capacity. We send our heartfelt thanks to Johanna for her tireless contributions over the past two and a half years and pledge to continue the work she so highly prioritized, particularly institutional progress toward diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.

Before we point toward some of the exciting happenings this month at the Wex, we wanted to take a moment to briefly introduce ourselves.

Megan has been at the Wexner Center for nearly two decades. Before assuming her current role as chief operating officer in 2019, she served as the center’s director of exhibitions management, director of patron services, and head registrar, among other roles, including curating such exhibitions as Sarah Oppenheimer: S-337473, Architecture Interruptus, and All of Everything: Todd Oldham Fashion. Megan is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and has earned both a Master of Architecture and a Master of Business Administration from Ohio State.

Kelly joined the Wex in 2019 and oversees all fundraising activity and government relations as chief advancement officer. Before coming to the center, she was the director of development and affinity for the Columbus Metropolitan Library and worked for the University of Maryland and the American Alliance of Museums. Kelly earned her Master of Arts in Arts Policy and Administration and Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Economics from Ohio State. She also was the inaugural deputy director of Ohio State’s Urban Arts Space, first managing administration, education, and programming before being promoted to oversee exhibitions as well.

Please be assured that during this important interim period we will work closely and collaboratively with one another, Wexner Center Foundation Board President Bill Lambert, Ohio State Provost Melissa Gilliam, and the Wex's leadership team and entire staff to build a strong foundation for the next executive director.

In the meantime, our fantastic programming continues unabated. On November 14, we’ll welcome legendary guitarist Marc Ribot—who’s performed with Laurie Anderson, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and many others—for a riveting solo show in Mershon Auditorium. New York–based painter Amy Sillman (featured in our 2018 exhibition Inherent Structure) joins us virtually on November 16 for the final Diversities in Practice talk of the year to discuss what gives her work its aesthetic and ethical shape. And on November 19, Bill Morrison will introduce and discuss his latest film, The Village Detective: a song cycle, created with the support of a 2018 Wexner Center Artist Residency Award and lauded as "strangely intoxicating" by the New York Times. 

As we embark on this next chapter for the Wex, we feel fortunate to do so surrounded by an amazing team of colleagues and the support of members and friends like you. Together, we’ll continue to further the center's mission while finding ever more ways to welcome and engage the community.

Thank you for your commitment to the Wex.