Envisioning Success at the Wex

Envisioning Success at the Wex

Makayla Davis

Public & University Programs Intern

Final Project Overview

As the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University closed out its 30th anniversary, the 2019-2020 calendar year proved to be a wild success on the part of the programmers, producers, managers, educators, and staff members who made it possible. With an inspiring lecture from Jeanne Gang, immersive performances by nora chipaumire, and several motivating appearances by Julia Reichert, the many artists who collaborated at the Wex made the year incredibly entertaining for staffers and audience members alike. As a snapshot encapsulation of how the Wex exceeded lofty expectations of how to celebrate its anniversary, this feature publication aims to unite each of the Wex’s programming initiatives and showcase the behind-the-scenes work that provides the art that the public loves.

This project was conceptualized after a semester of my Public and University Programs internship in an effort to recognize cross-departmental collaboration and showcase the extensive work that goes into the exhibition and presentation of contemporary art. I met with a programmer in each department and asked them a series of questions pertaining to their careers:

What is your academic background, and how did it lead to a career at the Wex? What are some programs/performances/exhibitions that you have been integral in creating?

What inspires and drives your work?

Does your personal outlook have an effect on the way that you express your work?

Do you have any interests or hobbies that work outside of but adjacent to your job in the art sphere?

How would you define the main goal of your job?

How do you see your individual work manifest itself in the face of the

multifaceted contemporary arts institution on a college campus. It unites staff members in recognizing their shared goals in providing audiences an accessible museum experience. Additionally, it may inform the general public and students considering careers in the arts of the extensive work necessary to provide nuanced and captivating art which represents and stirs interest with the multitude of people who experience the Wex. Through a series of interviews within Film/Video, Exhibitions, Performing Arts, and Education, this project challenges Wex staffers to view their careers from a different lens and translate their visions and values in contemporary art to the general public. I strive for this to be a demonstration of how Wex staffers work together in formation of a greater whole.

In an effort to show the Center’s underworkings, the publication informs the public of a wide range of institutional work, defines successful curation and programming, and displays how contemporary arts work in accordance with the public’s interests and values. The interviews and overviews showcase how various academic and professional backgrounds can be applied to make successful programmers, educators, and curators, demonstrating how students can pursue careers in the arts. It shows the commonalities and differences between colleagues and allows the public to gain a well-rounded view of an international contemporary art institution run successfully.

This project was conceptualized after a semester of inter-departmental work at the Wex. From my position as Public and University Programs Intern with Alana Ryder in the Education Department, a significant portion of my work requires me to reach out to, collaborate with, and build upon the work done throughout the Wex. I want this project to inform the public of the importance of work within the contemporary art sphere and bond Wex staffers together by recognizing their likeness in wanting to share quality contemporary art that represents the human condition.

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These interviews were pursued with the intent of exposing the abounding passion and commitment that staffers have for their careers. This publication recognizes the incredible strengths of Wex staff and their abilities to design a visitor experience unique to only this multidisciplinary,

For questions, comments, or concerns, please contact mdavis@wexarts. org.

About the Intern Makayla Davis is a third-year Ohio State undergraduate student from Lorain, Ohio, studying Landscape Architecture with a minor in African American and African Studies. She is involved on campus as an ambassador for the Knowlton School of Architecture, the president of the school’s service organization, SERVitecture, the secretary of Ohio State’s Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and she is a Land Grant Opportunity Scholarship recipient. Makayla is incredibly passionate about placefinding and has studied abroad in London, Rome, and Peru during her academic experience. In her spare time, she loves salsa dancing with her friends.

from Film/Video

Jennifer Lange

What is your academic background, and how did it lead you to a career at the Wex? I was a religious studies major in college and an art history minor. I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the arts. The courses in religious studies were super fascinating to me and I figured that it’s really a form of cultural studies and essentially a lot of critical reading and writing. And then I worked for a while after undergraduate. My first job was in Connecticut at a publishing company that specialized in small artist monographs.

Then I moved to Washington, DC, and worked at an art gallery that specialized in German expressionist art and some early 20th century American art. It turned out to be an amazing experience that I carry with me still. But my interest was more in contemporary art, and so I went to graduate school at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and did their Curatorial Studies/Arts Administration Program. And I always say that I paid all that money to get that degree actually to have a job at a gallery in Chicago that really provided much of my education and, more specifically, cemented my interest in working directly with artists. That gallery was Donald Young Gallery. It was a small gallery and I did everything: from researching and working with artists’ studios to working with artists and preparators on installations. It was definitely during that time that my interest in working directly with artists and supporting them really cemented.

What are some programs that you have been integral in creating at the Wex? Probably the first big project that was really important for me, in terms of how I thought about this residency program and the impact that it could make in an artist’s career, is working with Sadie Benning. In 2003, they first came to the Wexner Center and I knew of their work, but I didn’t know them. I just picked up the phone to call them and see what they were working on and propose supporting a new project under our Artist Residency Award, and we ended up having, like, a 2 hour long phone conversation. I asked if they wanted to make a new video and they said that they had these drawings that they’d been working on, and they sort of saw it as being a video, but wasn’t really sure what form it would take. And that turned into a 3-year residency where they spent, in some years, more of their time in Columbus than in Chicago, where they were living at the time. Working on this video, Play Pause, which they made here over the course of their 3 year residency and that was grounded in their drawing practice really stretched us in ways technologically and definitely stretched them in ways technically and creatively.

And then Sadie’s residency led to an exhibition in 2007, Suspended Animation, where we showed Play Pause alongside these huge paintings that they had been making, which is something we half-jokingly talked about in that very first conversation in 2003. So that was kind of the beginning of me thinking about the value of the residency program as more than just access to technology and resources. It just marked a shift for me in thinking about this program and what it could do and the kinds of relationships that were possible. There have been a number of residencies that, like Sadie’s, have led to exhibitions, and those have been particularly gratifying for me.

What inspires and drives the work that you do?

Working with artists directly. When an artist is passionate about the work that they do, it’s infectious. The magic of it never really wears off. You get to spend this intense time [with artists], and sometimes it’s really fraught and emotional. Alexis McCrimmon, one of our two Studio Editors, has made the very apt metaphor: it’s like being a doula. They’re

giving birth to something that they’ve worked on for a really long time, and it’s so special to them and important to them and significant to them, and you’re a part of that last process that can be painful and emotional and scary and exciting--it’s like a roller coaster.

But really, when artists are passionate about their project, even when they’re really challenging to work with, you’re just like ‘I’m on board. I’m here with you until the very end.’

Does your personal outlook have an effect on the way that you express your work?

I like a challenge. I don’t mind having a structure or boundaries, but I also like finding ways to kind of push those a little bit or work around rules. And I like artists who do that too. Out of that has come a certain openness in this program to not saying ‘no.’ I mean, if the artist is passionate about [an idea], and I can kind of see what they see or have a glimpse into what this final thing might be, I’m open to it. I also embrace the work or the actual labor involved in making something. If there’s an artist who needs to go into the woods to record something, I’m like ‘Alright, let’s drive and find that place in the woods and do it.’ For me, it keeps my job from being boring and sitting at a desk all the time. It’s very artist-centric, and I think I learned this a lot from my work at Donald Young Gallery.

I’m not a skeptical person: I approach an artist with an ‘I’m going to find a way to say yes to this person [attitude].’ It might not always work, but even if it doesn’t work, it might get you to another point where other opportunities or ideas open up that you weren’t thinking of at the start. So I think that’s the value of experimentation and being open to new ideas.

How would you define the main goal of your job?

To run a program that supports established and emerging artists who are working in video and [provide] a nurturing environment as they finish their works. But also, on a very practical level, to move things forward and keep everyone happy. We’re working on multiple projects at the same time because it often takes a long time to finish a project.

It’s also my job to hold a lot of information and think strategically about moving every project forward, but always think about all the projects and programs and institutional goals collectively. Trying to be conscious of the stress and strains that the two Studio Editors may be going through and that the artists may be going through. It’s holding it all together, keeping everyone happy, and moving it forward.

To Jennifer, passion grows from artists into staff members and out to audiences. Creativity is boundless within the residency program, and it is incredibly apparent that an artist’s energy bleeds into her own work and produces the mastermind that encapsulates the Film/Video Studio at the Wex. Her passion for seeing beauty into fruition has allowed for a great deal of success throughout the Wex, and it continues to open up new avenues for each department to have an increasingly public and impactful face. Her work represents the sheer complexity and creativity which allows for the Film/Video Studio to run so successfully.

from Exhibitions

Michael Goodson

What is your academic background, and how did it lead you to a career at the Wex? I entered my undergraduate program thinking that I would go into something a little less esoteric and a little more stable than art, but as it turned out, I really gravitated toward a sculpture program at Wright State University, where I went to undergrad… Then I went on to grad school at Cranbrook… And then immediately got teaching positions at Whittenberg and back at Wright State and at University of Dayton… I actually taught contemporary art history at Whittenberg and studio classes at the other schools. [I] moved to New York as an artist, got a job at a blue chip gallery, James Cohan Gallery, as a registrar and exhibitions designer and coordinator. And then, within a couple years, I was a director in that gallery, working with artists to develop their shows, working on group shows. And slowly and somewhere in that process, I became an organizer of visual art exhibitions.

How do you see your individual work manifest itself in the face of the public?

I have a fair amount of good long-term relationships with the artists that I’ve worked with... With people I worked with in the gallery in New York and people I’ve worked with subsequently, so that means something to me. But also just in talking to people who have come to the shows, whether they’re in the art community, professors here at OSU or at CCAD, but also just people that I know outside of the realm of art, who later tell me that the show was meaningful for them in some way. Even if all they can sort of conjure is that it was really beautiful, I like that. I still believe that kind of the formal satisfaction, whether you want to call it beauty or whatever name might apply, means a lot to people.

What are some exhibitions that you have been integral in creating at the Wex? I’ve done four full gallery exhibitions in the not-quite four years that I’ve been here. One was called Gray Matters. The next one was called Inherent Structure. [I] co-curated with Lucy Zimmerman [on] Mickalene Thomas’ show, and then I did this last fall’s show, which was called HERE, and it was Jenny Holzer and Maya Lin and Ann Hamilton… I also did a couple small shows in there too, like Cecilia Vicuña.

What inspires and drives the work that you do?

I gravitate towards what I know will be an edifying experience for the viewer. That drives a lot of it when I come across a body of work by a group of artists... or by a singular artist... [I search for what] will be this experience that introduces the work in some way to people that might not know it... I like introducing ideas in a way that’s pretty immersive and all-encompassing for them… it’s sort of the theater of the exhibition for the viewer.

Does your personal outlook have an effect on the way that you express your work?

It probably does in ways I’m not aware of, but I try to pull myself out of it. I have certain sensibilities about space… I like space to be pretty spare and pretty poetic most of the time. I think most people would agree that [for] most of what I’ve done... I gave lots of room between works to breathe and think… It’s pretty formal, and I think we live in a moment where there are also social and political concerns that really must enter what curators do, and that’s a thing I’m very interested in and a thing I think I’ve grown into some.

How would you define the main goal of your job?

It is really about giving viewers - who don’t live their entire lives in the realm of art, that usually use art as a way to broaden their perspective or improve their lives to the degree that it’s able - a great experience and that they’re introduced to something in a way that… honors them and honors the art... Honoring both the viewer and the artist in the experience where they come together.

While interviewing Michael, it became clear that his work is inspired by both the artist and the viewer. He is passionately driven by the desire to make exhibitions not only influential but also accessible.

It should be representative of both the artist and the viewer while creating an experience unlike any other. It was incredible to learn about how the art of curation works far beyond the desires of the curator.

from Performing Arts

Lane Czaplinski

What inspires and drives the work that you do?

I think it’s probably two things: the desire to help artists but also my desire to be part of given communities. If I could add a third, I would say that I think that contemporary art in general allows us to embrace complexity more so than maybe mainstream pursuits. And I think that’s particularly important in terms of how society can kind of train itself to embrace complexity instead of dealing in such binaries… Contemporary art typically can feel like this outsider proposition and that it actually isn’t a very inclusive kind of proposition.

But in fact, I think it’s maybe more representative of the way that the majority of people think or process their lives, which is in more abstract fashions and nonlinear fashions than something that’s more cut and dried. I think that’s just typically how the human brain works... That would be the third, I think, that there’s a way that contemporary art can help us be less scared of ideas or concepts and the unknown.

How do you see your individual work manifest itself in the face of the public?

I think that the people that we’re trying to serve, artists and different communities and leaders and activists and scholars and what not, I think if we’re doing a really good job, then somebody like myself or an institution like the Wex actually becomes more of a… graphite line underneath a watercolor, and I can become the support that an art project can realize itself over, but at the end, you don’t see the graphite line. The Wex really... should just be the tool or the mechanism or the container or something that the person, the imagination, the creative, the leader can actually imprint their own thing on top of or through or via, in proximity to what the sort of institutional mechanism is.

How would you define the main goal of your job?

I think it’s largely twofold… In a nutshell, it’s to help artists realize projects and to create accessibility, to make those projects accessible to as many different communities as possible.

Does your personal outlook have an effect on the way that you express your work?

I probably consider myself to be more of a producer than a curator and that I actually uphold the value of supporting and helping artists make things and build things more than I do about lording my own viewpoint over the artist’s project… I think about language as a connecting mechanism that way, so I think that that’s where I’m always interested in not just finding clear spoken language, or plain spoken language, but also encouraging the perspective of the viewer. I like to privilege the viewpoint of the artist as paramount... the whole exercise is then to take people who encounter something and to allow their brains and their imaginations to respond to or to relate to what it is they’re encountering... And I think trying to have different perspectives respond to the work and really figuring out ways of encouraging that to happen is huge for me. And I think, what I’ve seen maybe in the evolution of my own practice as a professional is that not only am I trying to figure out ways of helping realize multiple perspectives in terms of how they relate to the work, I’m also trying to use different perspectives to help shape what the work even is and how we run ourselves and how we curate and how we produce and how we administrate and how we community build, so it’s not just all coming through one singular person who looks like me and represents what I represent. But actually, I can, at this point in my career, better facilitate and help and encourage other perspectives and make them feel present at the table, and supported, and invested in.

Do you have any interests or hobbies that work outside of but adjacent to your job?

I like to write… Actually, I don’t like to write at all, but I’ve tasked myself with writing as probably my principal mode of communicating with the world, even though I don’t do it much. I think it’s this sort of ongoing wrestling match with trying to find my voice… I had an English professor in high school who said, “We don’t know what we think until we see what we say,” and it was all about writing that way. So I think that that’s been influential for me. That’s probably why I identify with it the most... Also, when I write within arts administration, it’s the thing that’s sort of the way that I draw. It’s… the way that I devise strategy. It’s through writing that I got to be basically an artistic director because I was able to show a viewpoint, and that became important in my career...

Upon speaking with Lane, his passion for his career became incredibly apparent and nearly palpable. Listening to him speak from his perspective in the Performing Arts department, I was immediately struck by his desire to make all avenues of the Wex accessible to all audiences. His love of art expresses itself through the success of an artist’s work.

He knows that his job is impactful when viewers and audiences perceive, respond, and feel included within contemporary art’s growing field.

from Education

Dionne Custer Edwards

What is your academic background, and how did it lead you to a career at the Wex? So I started off at The Ohio State University, and I studied English and also studied music and performance and also studied... African and African American Studies… I graduated in 1997, and right after graduating began performing professionally as a literary artist.

I’m a writer and began performing my work… And from that work, and... just being out in the community… I knew I wanted to teach… I started doing… community arts work…

Worked with many of the arts and cultural institutions [in Columbus] as an independent artist… getting into program development… I really fell in love with working in museums as a writer… as an artist... And then a position came up [at the Wex] in the Education Department that was really aligned with what I had been doing... I was hired on here in 2005… And my focus was schools and really developing programming in the schools. A few years later in 2008 while I was working here, I went back to grad school... [I] started grad school as a single mom working full time. I didn’t stop working. I worked full time...

One of the things that I wanted to show [my son] was that he could do anything he put his mind to. And so while it was hard… I used those life experiences as momentum for me to just keep going... And I step into this place very much as an artist, as a writer… To become a better writer was something that I wasn’t sure would be useful in this space, but it absolutely is. There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not utilizing those skills.

What are some programs that you have been integral in creating at the Wex? I am super proud [of] Pages, which is our year long writing program. It’s an anchor program here at the Wex, definitely [an] anchor in the Education department. We’re headed into our 15th year of Pages... And so I’m really proud of how sustainable it’s been, how we just keep getting better and better at our practice, how it has become a practice, and the kind of work that is going into schools and working deeply with pedagogy and working deeply with students and learning... And we just show no signs of slowing down. There’s tons of other programs… But top of mind is Pages. I’m just so excited about that work.

And we’ve done deep research and presented nationally on that work. Just really proud of that work coming out of this institution.

What inspires and drives the work that you do?

I believe in this work with every fabric of my being. I decided... back in the late 90s that there were three areas that would drive my work: art, education, and community. And I try to make... career decisions [and] personal decisions based on those three areas that I care about… And I knew the work [that] I wanted to do in the world needed to center art, education, and community. I knew I wanted to be working in the community in some real way, in some deep way... I knew that… teaching and learning was something that I wanted to be doing. And then… I knew that I wanted it to be arts integrated.

How would you define the main goal of your job?

I think it’s hard to narrow to one [goal]. I would say the body of work that we’re doing specifically in Education here at the Wex is about learning and deep engagement. I’d go a step further and say I’d like my body of work to be about, and it has been about, inclusion and accessibility. Those are really important to me.

How do you see your individual work manifest itself in the face of the public?

You’d be surprised how many people reach out to me and just want to have conversations about the work we’re doing here. I love walking one-on-one with someone through the galleries or meeting them for coffee or even talking about the work we’re doing here in the community… I hear from people that there’s an understanding that the body of work that I’m involved with is in service of something bigger than myself. That feels really good. This work is not about me. It is a bigger body of work that is in service. The Wex exploring the issues of our time, the topics of our time, the arts, are in service of the people, the community. In some ways, me being here and the field not being as diverse matters as well. When people see [that] you’re black and you’re a woman and you are a mother... there’s a complexity to it. There’s a kind of intersection, and I would like to think that me being here allows for people, especially young people… to see themselves in a place like this or just know that they are welcome in a place like this and that a place like this has people that work here that might remind them of themselves or people that they have in their lives... In some ways, having a kind of sustained body of work in this institution has allowed me to see the change that’s happened over 15 years, and it just reminds me that wow, we’ve been busy! We’ve done some things! And there’s more yet to do… And you know, we’re talking about different things. We are having hard conversations. We are... being uncomfortable and asking these things of ourselves as well as the public. Let’s talk about things that matter. Let’s talk about things that are difficult. And let’s center art in that conversation. Let’s center inclusion in that conversation. Let’s have multiple perspectives. I’m really excited to see how that has changed over 15 years… To watch that change is inspiring for me.

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

I really believe in this work… I am in service of... many things... It’s been almost 15 years, and I look forward to the [future]... Wherever the work takes us as an institution... I’m excited about that.

“What is the work that you want to do in the world?”

This is just one of the many impactful statements made by Dionne that have changed how I view work at the Wex. It is so clear that passion for a greater good drives her, making her successful. Her work as a programmer within the Education Department runs adjacent to so many vital jobs done throughout the world, and it was truly inspiring to learn about how her practice is grounded in goals far beyond the Wex.

Personal Findings With the intent of exposing the abounding passion that staffers have for their careers, each interview reveals a commitment to forces far beyond those that personally affect their jobs. This project helped me discover a great deal about the institution, the people who make it successful, and myself, an intern being immersed in the Wex experience. I have come to envision myself in pursuit of the mission to make the Wex accessible to all, and I have grown committed to seeing the ways that contemporary art can change lives.

A major discovery throughout the interview process was how well every job runs alike to other fields. As a young student, many teachers tried to persuade me of the lack of feasibility of creating a career within the arts sphere; however, my interview experience has taught me that diverse backgrounds can still lead to success in the arts. One’s academic studies can be indirectly or adjacently related to the arts, yet still applied to the field. Additionally, the jobs that Wex staffers work are incredibly similar to other traditional fields: they develop creative solutions to practical problems, collaborate among teams of workers and artists, and work to engage audiences in their pursuits. These jobs all promote a cohesive work structure where creativity is boundless.

Each interview made it incredibly apparent that staffers are beyond passionate about their careers. From Jennifer’s striking willingness to help an artist find inspiration to Michael’s strong desire for letting art speak to Lane’s limitless pursuit of Center-wide accessibility to Dionne’s undeniable passion for making an impactful body of work, every Wex staff member works for the audience and the artist. Their work clearly goes far beyond their personal interests and outlooks and aims to make the Wexner Center an accessible space to all audiences. Every staffer in every department works in contemporary art to serve the viewer and the artist rather than their personal interests.

Each staffer has a larger goal of creating a body of work that represents the audience in connection with the artist, rather than pushing an institutional agenda. They work to make the art speak for the viewer and create an experience which represents the diverse groups of people who make up the Wex’s constituencies. Their careers are in service of goals far beyond

their personal being, and it is clear that contemporary art creates a unique work atmosphere with humanitarian goals.

I am incredibly grateful to have engaged in this project and inquired about how Wex staffers define success. It was inspiring to learn about the ways that careers in contemporary art work to serve the public. Each job is done differently, through various programming, problem-solving, and creative pursuits, but they all work in service of one greater goal: to deliver an accessible experience to all audiences experiencing art at the Wex. I am proud to work among such passionate and devoted staff members, and they inspire me to define my professional goals in relation to a larger cause. After two semesters of work, I am able to view my own internship in service of this greater cause, and I view myself as an employee working to define success at the Wex. As an intern, I am a participant in this institution-wide structure, and I am learning about the importance of serving goals beyond those that affect me.

This project has made me hopeful for finding a future career as passionate and purpose-driven as those of Wex staffers. I believe that success is determined by a worker’s ability to serve beyond the self and make art despite difficulties. Each Wex staff member embodies this with fervor, and I am determined to make a future career as inspiring as theirs.

Remarks As a new member of the Wex community and someone who did not realize the hard work and devotion which goes into serving the public arts events that suit their interests, I hope that this publication demonstrates how the arts remain structurally strong at the Wex and how careers work in service beyond the individual. In recognizing these key members of each department and publicizing their roles in an institution-wide goal, I have seen the background work which allows for a wealth of successful art at the Wex. I hope that audience members and fellow students will see how diverse backgrounds can work in service of a larger goal and be inspired to find the same levels of passion in their careers and professions. I have been greatly inspired to further envision myself in the future of the contemporary art sphere, and I aim to find a career which works beyond myself. I greatly look forward to furthering the institution-wide goals of accessibility in the 2020-2021 school year.

Thank you to everyone who encouraged this project and made it possible.

Thank you to Alana for seeing my vision and pushing me to make a final project which speaks meaning to larger audiences. Thank you to Jennifer, Michael, Lane, and Dionne, for meeting with me and allowing me to publicize their inspiring words of wisdom. Thank you to Melissa for helping me spread this project to a larger audience. And thank you to every other Wex staffer for inspiring me and making me feel at home within the Wex. I am grateful to be a part of such a wonderful institution, and I am excited that my work speaks far beyond myself.