rachel dukes is a Texas-born, Chicago-based independent writer, curator, and arts administrator. She received her undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas and her master’s degree in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois Chicago.

rachel has supported exhibitions at Gallery 400, Hyde Park Art Center, and most recently, South Side Community Art Center. Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Reader, New City, LVL3, Sixty Inches From Center, and the International Journal of Surrealism.

A passionate advocate for community-based arts programming, rachel is a board member at Chicago Tap Theatre, a tap dance organization based in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.

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.”