2026 State of the Art Prize, Minnesota

About Rosy Simas

Minneapolis, MN

Rosy Simas (Seneca, Heron clan) is a transdisciplinary and dance artist. Simas’ knowledge of her Hodinöšyö:nih family and lineage underpins her relationship to culture and history—stored in her body—expressed through her work—of moving people, images, and objects she makes for stage and installation. Simas’s work weaves personal and collective identity themes with family, sovereignty, equality, and healing. She creates with a team of Native/BIPOC artists and is driven by deep listening. Simas’ works for the stage include “she who lives on the road to war,” “Weave,” “Skin(s),” and “We Wait in the Darkness.” Simas’ installations have been exhibited at the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, All My Relations Arts, SOO Visual Arts, and the Weisman Art Museum. Simas is a Doris Duke Artist, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, McKnight Foundation Fellow, Dance/USA Fellow, United States Artists Fellow, First People’s Fund Performing Arts Fellow, and a Joyce Awardee. Her other accolades include a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation SHIFT award and multiple awards from the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, the MAP Fund, and the National Performance Network. Simas is a 2024–2026 Walker Art Center artist in residence.

Rosy Simas (Seneca, Heron clan) is a transdisciplinary and dance artist. Simas’ knowledge of her Hodinöšyö:nih family and lineage underpins her relationship to culture and history—stored in her body—expressed through her work—of moving people, images, and objects she makes for stage and installation. Simas’s work weaves personal and collective identity themes with family, sovereignty, equality, and healing. She creates with a team of Native/BIPOC artists and is driven by deep listening. Simas’ works for the stage include “she who lives on the road to war,” “Weave,” “Skin(s),” and “We Wait in the Darkness.” Simas’ installations have been exhibited at the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center, All My Relations Arts, SOO Visual Arts, and the Weisman Art Museum. Simas is a Doris Duke Artist, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, McKnight Foundation Fellow, Dance/USA Fellow, United States Artists Fellow, First People’s Fund Performing Arts Fellow, and a Joyce Awardee. Her other accolades include a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation SHIFT award and multiple awards from the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, the MAP Fund, and the National Performance Network. Simas is a 2024–2026 Walker Art Center artist in residence.