rachel is a Chicago-based writer, curator, and arts administrator from Grand Prairie/Arlington, Texas.

rachel has supported the curatorial teams at Gallery 400, the South Side Community Art Center, and the Surviving the Long Wars exhibition series. A strong advocate for community-based arts programming, rachel is also a board member at Chicago Tap Theatre.

Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Reader, Sixty Inches From Center, and LVL3.

My journey in the arts began as a high school student. I never realized the sounds of the down-bow in Egmont Overture would stick to my spirit beyond 10th grade. On my first day as a Horn player in the high school orchestra, the guest instructor described how the Overture represented Beethoven’s portrayal of a revolutionary on his tragic quest to free an oppressed community.

He accompanied the story with a thoughtful anecdote of how each instrument played a fundamental role in the final masterpiece, convincing me that my part as a 4th chair Horn player was meaningful.

This experience in orchestra ignited my desire to stay close to the arts and all matters of creative expression. Art has helped me discover the many worlds that exist both within and outside of myself. In my practice, I explore the terrain for wonder that is uncovered through art and I am committed to sharing this exploration with my community.

My graduate thesis research examined (Afro)Surrealism as a spiritually charged creative language that serves as a portal to new understandings of life, self, and our shared reality. My exploration is grounded in Suzanne Césaire’s musings on Surrealism as freedom, a return to ourselves, and a “blossoming outwards in all directions.”