Rose B. Simpson

Simpson studied art at the University of New Mexico and the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, where she received her BFA in 2007.[6] She went on to receive an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.[7] She is also a graduate of the now defunct automotive science program at Northern New Mexico College in Española, New Mexico.[8]

Simpson's artwork investigates the complex issues of past, present and future aspects of Native America, including issues surrounding identity and of cultural survival.[9] In her exhibition at Pomona College Museum of Art she acted within the role of artist and curator. She mined the museum's collections to recontextualize historical objects among her own sculptures to "obliterate the western dichotomy of aesthetic versus utilitarian objects to propose an indigenous aesthetic of use and human connectedness'.[10] Her intention in doing so was "to ground oneself is to reconnect physically to the earth, to root, to restore power, to build a strong foundation."[10]

In 2016, her work was included in Con Cariño: Artists Inspired by Lowriders at the New Mexico Museum of Art.[11]

detail of Maria, 2014, by Rose Bean Simpson

Simpson has had a solo museum retrospective exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe New Mexico, titled LIT: The Work of Rose B. Simpson.[2][12] The museum produced a catalog of Simpson's work in conjunction with the exhibition.[13][14] In 2016 she had a solo exhibition, entitled Ground, at the Pomona College Museum of Art, California.[10] In 2019 to 2020, she was in the traveling exhibition, “Hearts of Our People”.[15][16] For this exhibition, Simpson created a sculptural work, Maria, as an homage to the San Ildefonso Native American ceramicist, Maria Martinez in which she modified and customized a 1985 Chevy El Camino with San Ildefonso blackware (glossy black on matte black) pottery designs.[17][18]

• Portland Art Museum[19]
• Denver Art Museum[20][21][22]
• Clay Art Center of Port Chester, New York[23]
• Museum of Fine Arts Boston[23]
• Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA[23]

• 2013 National Artist Fellowship, Native Arts & Cultures Foundation[24]
• 2017 Simpson was awarded a fellowship from the National Parks Foundation for a residency at Aztec Ruins National Monument[25]

Simpson comes from a long line of Santa Clara Pueblo ceramic artists, including her mother Roxanne Swentzell, and her great grandfather, Michael Naranjo.[26] Her father is the sculptor, Patrick Simpson.[23]

For a number of years, Simpson was the lead singer in the Native American punk band, Chocolate Helicopter.[27][28][29] She also played in the hip-hop band, Garbage Pail Kidz.[30]