Ty Defoe

Ty Defoe (Giizhig), Oneida & Ojibwe Nations, is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, shapeshifter, and Grammy Award winner. He has participated in the Millennium celebration in Cairo, Egypt; Ankara, Turkey, International Music Festival; and Festival of World Cultures in Dubai. He won the First American in the Arts Award, Global Indigenous Heritage Festival Award, a Robert Rauschenberg Artist in Residence, Jonathan Larson Award. He authored and created “River of Stone,” “The Way They Lived,” “Ajijaak on Turtle Island,” “Hear Me Say My Name.” Defoe is an artEquity facilitator, and the co-founder of Indigenous Direction, and All My Relations Collective who developed “GIZHIBAA GIIZHIG|Revolving Sky” (DTWG, Public Theater). He has been published in Thorny Locust Magazine, Howl Round, and Routledge Press. Defore holds degrees from CalArts, Goddard College, + NYU Tisch. He was the Movement Director for “Mother Road,” Dir. Bill Rauch (OSF), “Manahatta,” Dir. Laurie Woolery (OSF + Yale Rep), and choreographer on Tracy Lett’s “The Minutes” (Broadway). Defoe has acted in “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix) and Young Jean Lee’s “Straight White Men” (Broadway), Dir. Anna Shapiro. He lives in New York City.