Roell Schmidt is the Producing Director of Columbia College Chicago’s Dance Presenting Series (DPS). She is an arts administrator, producer, educator, and maker who seeks to contribute to a creative ecosystem that is fair, compassionate, generative, and risk-taking. She has believed in dance for health since she was sick as a child and her doctor prescribed dance to improve her health outcomes. Prior to DPS, she co-produced with artists on new works and site-specific performances and with scientists and artists to develop games for a quantum casino. She directed Chicago’s dance and performance incubator Links Hall from 2009 to 2019, a decade that included establishing its venue partnership with Mike Reed and Constellation, the first season in Links’ history led by artists who identify as BIPOC, and receiving the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
