MINNEAPOLIS — On February 12, Trump-appointed “border czar” Tom Homan announced the “end” of Operation Metro Surge, during which more than 4,000 federal agents aggressively targeted immigrant communities in the Twin Cities, causing massive chaos throughout the area and killing Renee Good and Alex Pretti. It seemed meaningful that the same day as Homan’s announcement, Minnesota-based interdisciplinary artist Rosy Simas opened A:gajë:gwah dësa’nigöëwë:nye:’ (i hope it will stir your mind) at the Walker Art Center. The contemplative installation slows the viewer down, inviting a soft sense of communion with objects such as salt bottles made from woven corn husks, each hung from a grid on the ceiling in honor of one of Simas’s relatives, and offering a site of peace amid fear and confusion.

The exhibition is inspired by her fifth great-grandfather’s half-brother Handsome Lake (Ganyodaiyo’), who experienced a vision after years of war and began teaching his people about working from the Seneca notion of a “good mind” in the early 1800s. The aforementioned sensory work, on view through July 5, is part of a two-part project, which also includes performances on May 13–16. Simas is most known for her choreography, but she has long explored visual art in tandem with dance, at times mounting installation exhibitions and performances concurrently, as she does with this project. She’s also been gaining national recognition as a visual artist, recently earning a Creative Capital Award for that side of her practice. Here, she discusses her latest endeavor.

Hyperallergic: How has the work changed since January?

Rosy Simas: The installation became more subtle. It was always intended to be a space that didn’t provoke, but maybe evoked. It is a space for people to rest their nervous systems, but also to inhabit a space made by a Haudenosaunee artist reflecting on what it means to try to create from a place of generating peace. I am interested in response, as opposed to reaction.

H: What is your experience of opening an exhibition in the midst of a federal occupation?

RS: When we knew that it was becoming more difficult for people to just exist around here, asking people to gather, that was sort of a no-brainer — that is not something that we can do. This isn’t a “just push through” moment. At the same time, I think having these kinds of spaces is really important during what feels like an oppressive occupation. It’s not even about a safe space. It’s a space where people can be with themselves.

Making work for a museum gallery is really difficult for me, because I like to think of the work as iterative, even within the time that it’s being shared. So for me, it’s difficult to put something up and let it be there until July, because things change.

H: You tend to want to go in there and shift things around?

RS: Yeah, the static nature of exhibitions is really challenging for me. That is part of why we’re doing so many community engagement activities around it, and also why there are two shows. The performance has more of a presentational aspect to it, where there is something being shared that has more dynamic ebb and flow, and it is also intended to draw an audience’s focus into what’s happening with the performers themselves — what they are expressing and what they are sharing.

That’s different from creating an environment for people to be inside of, where they can be with their own individual experience. There’s still something relational being asked of the people who go into the gallery. They’re asked to contemplate what I’ve put forward in terms of materials and what those materials mean. But it’s a little different than performance, where they’re being asked to exist in relationship to the performers.

H: One of the things that I experienced with the exhibition was the different spaces that you move through. You’re being invited to sit or to visit each station in an active way. It seemed almost like it’s choreography for the participant who’s viewing the work.

RS: In Haudenosaunee world, we do everything counterclockwise. There is an invitation to come in, turn to your right, and see the embroidery and the first set of treaty cloth panels. And then to see the salt bottles, the deerskin lace, the treaty panels with the corn husk, and end up back where the language pillar is, where you can feel the vibration of the language — how it feels through a sense of touch, and not just a sense of hearing. Nobody’s telling people to come in and move counterclockwise, but people are invited in that way.  

My work as a body-based moving artist here is an important reference. The corn husk panels are hanging from a grid, and that’s intentional. The grid is made to reflect the way that I think as someone who primarily makes work in a theater setting: The way that the panels hang references how I think about stage design and how we experience performance in space. 

H: On social media, you commented about the need for visibility for Native, BIPOC, and queer voices. Why is creating a space for that presence so important right now? 

RS: Those voices are the ones that are being suppressed in all of this. We have to keep making work. There are people who haven’t been leaving their houses. There were people who became paralyzed and were unable to do their work. I have had serious moments of paralysis, for six to eight hours at a time, and that has been going on since January. And it’s not just because of this recent occupation, but it’s cumulative in many ways. 

H: The space feels sacred. Was that something that you were going for? 

RS: I don’t know that I would use that term, but what your experience of the space and how it feels to you is probably the most important thing to me. 

It’s the same as making the dance work. From the first residency until now, the ideas around the dance work — not the meaning behind it, but the way that it’s presented and the space around it — shift depending on what environment we’re currently living in. And in Minneapolis since January, we’ve been experiencing a very particular environment, and my work happened to be made in that timeframe. I’ve put a lot of thought into creating a space that I think people need right now, in this very time. 

FRANKLIN, Ind. (WISH) — Franklin Community Middle School will host its annual Welcome to Reality event on Friday, offering eighth-grade students a hands-on, immersive experience designed to prepare them for the financial and personal responsibilities of adulthood.

Welcome to Reality is an interactive simulation that places students in the role of a 28-year-old working adult. Prior to the event, students select a career based on their grade point average and are assigned a corresponding salary.

During the event, students navigate through a series of stations including housing, transportation, utilities, and food. Students are required to make real-life financial decisions and manage a check registry to track expenses.

“This event is absolutely pivotal in the transition to high school for our students,” Monica Anderson, FCMS school counselor said. “The students experience, in real time, how their education can impact their future.”

Community members play a critical role in the simulation by facilitating transactions and serving as tour guides for students throughout the event.

The event is scheduled in groups throughout the school day:

• 8:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
• 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
• 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Cleveland, OH, May 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Victory Entertainment announced the full lineup for the inaugural Afterburn Music Festival, a two-day outdoor rock event taking place August 14–15, 2026, at Victory Park in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Featuring a mix of pop punk, alternative, hard rock, and metal, the festival brings together multi-generational acts for what is expected to be one of the region’s most anticipated summer music events.

Third Eye Blind and Skillet will headline the Afterburn Music Festival in Cleveland, Ohio.

Headlining Friday, August 14, are Third Eye Blind, known for hits including Semi-Charmed Life, Jumper, and Narcolepsy, alongside New Found Glory, the Florida pop-punk icons behind My Friends Over You and Hit or Miss.

Saturday, August 15, features Skillet, the multi-platinum rock powerhouse known for Monster, Feel Invincible, and Comatose, and Hoobastank, whose breakout single The Reason became one of the defining songs of the early 2000s.

The full line-up of artists performing across the two-day festival includes:

Friday, August 14

• Third Eye Blind
• New Found Glory
• The Maine
• Switchfoot
• lovelytheband
• Bayside
• Heart Attack Man
• Giveth

Saturday, August 15

• Skillet
• Hoobastank
• Set It Off
• Puddle of Mudd
• Drowning Pool
• Black Stone Cherry
• Small Town Titans
• Rusty

“The goal with Afterburn wasn’t to create just another festival—it was to build something that feels big without feeling out of reach,” said Joe Borkey, President of Victory Entertainment. “This is the kind of lineup you’d normally have to travel for. Now it’s happening right here in Northeast Ohio.”

Designed to appeal to fans across multiple eras of rock music, the Afterburn Music Festival blends legacy acts with modern favorites, offering a shared live experience for longtime fans and newer audiences alike. As demand for regional, drive-in festivals continues to grow, Afterburn provides an accessible alternative to destination events such as Lollapalooza and Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival.

Borkey added, “We curated a lineup of bands to resonate with fans across multiple generations. Whether you came of age on 90s alternative, grew up on pop-punk, or found your faith through rock music, the Afterburn will have a selection of artists performing just for you.”

The festival will feature two full-production stages, an immersive VIP area, and a wide selection of Northeast Ohio food trucks and vendors. Gates open at noon each day, with performances beginning at 12:30 p.m. The event is expected to draw thousands of attendees from across Ohio and the surrounding Midwest region.

Tickets are on sale now at theafterburnmusicfestival.com, with the first tier of general admission tickets priced at $89.65 for a single day, and $159.30 for both days of the festival. VIP options are also available. Early ticket tiers and VIP tickets are limited and expected to sell quickly.

Located just outside Cleveland, Victory Park, a 60+ acre sports and entertainment facility, offers a natural outdoor setting with ample on-site parking, providing convenient access for fans throughout Northeast Ohio.

Additional scheduling details and festival information will be announced in the coming weeks.

For tickets, artist information, and updates, visit theafterburnmusicfestival.com or follow The Afterburn Music Festival on social media. Media inquiries and press credential requests should be directed to BMA Media at jjrborkey@bmamedia.com. High-resolution media assets are available upon request.

ABOUT VICTORY ENTERTAINMENT

Victory Entertainment is a Northeast Ohio-based live entertainment company dedicated to producing high-quality music festivals and concert experiences that connect nationally recognized artists with regional audiences.

The Afterburn Ohio Music Festival logo

About The Afterburn Music Festival

The Afterburn Music Festival is a two-day outdoor rock event held August 14–15, 2026, at Victory Park in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Featuring headliners Third Eye Blind, New Found Glory, Skillet, and Hoobastank, the festival delivers a multi-genre lineup spanning pop punk, alternative, and hard rock. Tickets and information are available at theafterburnmusicfestival.com.

Press Inquiries

Jerrod Borkey Jr.
jjrborkey [at] bmamedia.com
4409754262
https://theafterburnmusicfestival.com/
4091 Erie Street, Willoughby, OH 44094