The Greater Columbus Arts Council has selected filmmaker Drew Johnson and dancer Quianna Simpson as the 2026 recipients of its annual Artist Exchange Program with Dresden, Germany. The exchange, now in its 30th year, is offered in conjunction with the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony as part of the Columbus-Dresden sister city relationship.

Johnson is a producer, writer, and director based in Columbus. His debut feature film “Poser” premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and was distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories. He earned a 2020 Gotham Fiction Feature Fellowship for the project. He co-owns the Columbus production company Loose Films.

Simpson is a dancer, choreographer, and lecturer in the dance department at The Ohio State University. She studied traditional West African dance with Thiossane Institute and was named assistant artistic director of the company in 2022. She received her MFA from Ohio State and was an inaugural recipient of GCAC’s Artists Elevated awards in 2021. Simpson has presented work at Dixon Place in New York, Ohio University, and the OhioDance Festival.

Each year, Columbus also hosts a pair of German artists, providing lodging, transportation, studio space, and collaboration opportunities with the local creative community.

Source: Greater Columbus Arts Council