Gaëtane Verna out as executive director of Ohio State’s Wexner Center for the Arts

Ohio State University provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda sent an email to staff late Wednesday afternoon to announce that Wexner Center for the Arts executive director Gaëtane Verna would be stepping away from her role effective immediately.

The announcement follows in the wake of an August letter sent to Bellamkonda and signed by more than a dozen Wexner Center staff members in which the workers expressed a no confidence vote in the leadership of Verna, who has served as executive director since Aug. 2022. “Over the past three years, it is our opinion that her approach has resulted in high turnover, organizational dysfunction, financial instability, and reputational harm,” reads the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Matter News. 

The letter from Wexner Center employees was dated for Aug. 25 – nearly a year to the day after The Columbus Dispatch published a report in which sources detailed “a culture of dysfunction perpetuated by the museum’s executive director” that at that point had led to the departures of more than two dozen employees. Hyperallergic, a national arts publication headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, followed a month later with a report that included additional accounts from former Wexner Center employees who alleged staff mistreatment, financial mismanagement, and impulsive decision making by Verna.

“I strive to create a respectful workplace where everyone feels comfortable sharing thoughts and ideas. This approach has been consistent throughout my leadership, including at the Wexner Center for the Arts and previous institutions,” Verna said in an emailed statement to Matter News earlier this month. “I understand the university is reviewing the letter through its established processes, and I cannot comment further at this time.”

In Bellamkonda’s email to staff announcing Verna’s departure, the provost wrote that the transition would be guided by Trevor Brown, senior vice provost for academic affairs, working in close collaboration with the Wexner Center’s leadership team.

An announcement on interim leadership is expected to be made soon.