Behind the Scenes: Cox Fine Arts Center

Though the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair’s parking lot is fairly empty during most days in the early summer, inside the Cox Fine Art Centeremployees are busy sorting through and setting up hundreds of pieces of artwork.

From early May to July, a dozen gallery assistants arrange and rearrange artwork as the pieces are delivered by Fair exhibitors. The building begins as a bare white space. Walls are then arranged and the team creates a mock layout of the exhibition using printed thumbnails of the works of art. When a piece is delivered, the crew might discover that it is not the same size or shape as they imagined, or perhaps it doesn’t look right in a certain space. Because of this, gallery assistants move 75 percent of the pieces between the time they are assigned a spot during the original mock-up and the time of the exhibition.

Larger pieces tend to serve as “pivot points” in the gallery, earning specific works of art a particular spot in the room. This year, “The Details II” a 16-foot sculpture of clothing is one of the gallery’s main pivot points. Positioned in the center of the room mainly because of its height, the piece serves as a tribute to the artist’s late grandmother. According to the artist, her memory was so detailed she could remember the exact clothes people were wearing in her stories. Originally, the piece was several feet taller but layers were omitted to prevent the sculpture from scraping the building’s 18-foot ceiling. A forklift helped the artist assemble the sculpture in small chunks.

This year, the Fine Arts Exhibition features 282 entries, 72 by amateur artists and 210 by Ohio professionals.  The exhibit also received 19 film entries, 12 of which will be screened at the Fair. The team will preview the films prior to the Fair to determine which select films will be shown.

Visitors can view the Cox Fine Arts Center exhibit at the Ohio State Fair between 9 am and 9 pm, July 24 - August 4.