rachel dukes is a Texas-born and raised independent writer and curator based in Chicago, IL. She received a degree in Accounting from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, and her MA in Museum and Exhibition Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL. She currently leads the Archives and Collections department at the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) and has supported the curation of exhibitions at Gallery 400, Hyde Park Art Center, and SSCAC, where she most recently co-curated Beyond Frames: Black Women Collectors Shaping Cultural Heritage in Chicago. Her exhibition reviews and artist interviews have appeared in several Chicago-based publications, including Sixty Inches From Center, LVL3, New City, and Chicago Reader. Her writing has also been featured in the 2022-2023 issue of Black Embodiments Studio, A Year in Black Art, and the Spring 2025 issue of the International Journal of Surrealism, Surrealism and the Black World. rachel serves as board chair for Chicago Tap Theatre and plays the French Horn in community ensembles across Chicago.

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.”