Staff + Board
Rosy Simas, Artistic Director
(She/Her/Hers)
Rosy Simas (Seneca Nation of Indians, Heron clan) is a transdisciplinary and dance artist. Simas’ knowledge of her Hodinöšyö:nih family and lineage is the underpinning of her relationship to culture and history—stored in her body—expressed through her work—of moving people, images, and objects that she makes for stage and installation. Simas’ work weaves personal and collective identity themes with family, sovereignty, equality, and healing. Simas creates with a team of Native and BIPOC artists. Her work is driven by deep listening.
Simas’ works for stage include A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:’ (i hope it will stir your mind), 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, Forge Project Fellow, 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 the Artistic Director of Rosy Simas Danse and a 2024–2026 Walker Art Center artist in residence.
Image Description:
Photo credit: Tim Rummelhoff
Last updated:
Jeffrey Wells, Fabrication and Project Assistance
(He/Him/His)
Fabrication Collaborator: she who lives on the road to war; A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:'.
Performer: Weave; WEave:HERE; yödoishëndahgwa’geh; she who lives on the road to war.
Jeffrey Wells is a queer creator, performer, designer, fabricator, technician, learner, teacher, and administrator working in Minneapolis arts scene for the past 18 years. He has collaborated with Rosy and RSD for the last 10 years in many capacities and is honored and humbled to be a partner in the process. Aside from work with RSD, he spends his time exploring and cultivating novelty, non-habitual behavior, and the capacity for change through his Feldenkrais® practice.
Image Description: Jeffrey is a 45-year-old white queer man with short brown hair. He is standing outside in front of a red and white barn on a bright October day. He is wearing a purple sweatshirt with a plaid collared flannel shirt underneath and blue jeans. He is smiling and holding a long braid of Seneca white corn in his left hand.
Last updated: June 2026
Heid E. Erdrich,
Board of Directors
(She/Her/Hers)
Author of nine books of poetry and prose, Heid E. Erdrich is a curator, teacher, and collaborative artist. Her most recent books are Verb Animate: Poetry and Prose from Creative Acts and Boundless: Abundance in Native American Art and Literature. She served as the inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate in 2024. Erdrich’s on-going project is Poetry Service Announcement (PoeS.A.) which promotes poetry as public art. She serves her communities through formal and informal mentorship, poetry interventions, and in activating collaborative response between communities.
Image Description: A light-skinned, brown-eyed Native American woman with long silver and brown hair wearing a deep red turtleneck and long shell and bead earrings. Her face, neck, head and shoulders are visible. She is smiling and seems amused. The photo is outdoors. There is snow on the ground and a small green building with a mural of a large red bear is visible behind her.
Photo credit: Angie Erdrich
Last updated: June 2026
Carolyn Payne,
Board of Directors
(She/Her/Hers)
Carolyn serves as Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Rosy Simas Danse. As Director of Soo Visual Arts Center, they first worked with Rosy during a residency and exhibition at the gallery. They joined the board because of a strong commitment to the organization's mission to create and present innovative interdisciplinary Native contemporary art that connects artists and audiences.
As Treasurer, Carolyn brings experience in nonprofit finance, fundraising, organizational leadership, and arts programming. They are passionate about supporting artists, strengthening cultural communities, and helping ensure the organization's long-term sustainability and impact.
Image Description: The head and shoulders of a white woman with olive-toned skin and white and grey medium-length hair. She is wearing a black and white striped tee shirt and is in front of a grey wall and white curtains.
Last updated: June 2026
Laurie Van Wieren,
Board of Directors
(she/her)
Interdisciplinary artist Laurie Van Wieren is based in Minneapolis and has been a vital part of the city's dance community since 1980. She creates solo, ensemble, and site-specific performances, collaborating across disciplines with artists from diverse fields. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally at venues including the Walker Art Center, The Southern Theater, Red Eye Theater, and in public spaces. She founded and directed 9×22 Dance/Lab (2003–2020), a monthly performance and discussion series. Van Wieren has received support from the McKnight, Jerome, Bush, and Rockefeller Foundations, the NEA, and the Minnesota State Arts Board.
Image Description: A head-and-neck portrait of a light-skinned woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a navy shirt and dark glasses and looks directly at the camera with a slight smile. The background is softly out of focus, with a white window visible behind her.
Photo credit: Warwick Green
Last updated: July 2026
