Rachel E Heberling

Bethel, PA

Works Remotely

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Bio

Rachel Heberling is currently the Program Manager of Native Arts Professional Development (NAPD) at First Peoples Fund after a career break as a traveling artist. In this role she strengthens the Indigenous Arts Ecology by cultivating partnerships with Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs) and arts and culture organizations to host NAPD training sessions. She ensures these programs are deeply rooted in traditional knowledge, wisdom, and values, guided by the insights of Culture Bearers and participants in FPF’s artist-centered initiatives.

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With over a decade of experience in the arts nonprofit sector, Rachel has served as an artist, executive, and program manager. Before joining First Peoples Fund, she was the Executive Director of Frontline Arts, where she previously held the role of Studio and Program Manager. During her tenure, she integrated social outreach programs—most notably Frontline Paper, a veteran-led initiative transforming military uniforms into handmade paper—while upholding the organization’s long-standing legacy in collaborative printmaking and papermaking. Under her leadership, Frontline Arts expanded staff, secured new funding, navigated the challenges of the pandemic with financial stability, and launched initiatives like the Scrubs Paper Project. She also secured major grants, including NJSCA Capital Arts and NEA-MAAA Creative Forces.

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Rachel previously worked as an Assistant Client Manager in package design at Haney, managing Procter & Gamble accounts in Cincinnati, OH, while also teaching printmaking at Tiger Lily Press. There, she led open studio sessions, handled contract printing, served on the board, and helped organize a statewide printmaking conference. She has also worked as a printer for artist Jay Bolotin and as an editioning intern at Island Press at Washington University in St. Louis. Earlier in her career, she was a graduate administrative associate for Ann Hamilton and Michael Mercil at The Ohio State University, where she earned an MFA in Printmaking.

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Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the National Arts Club (NYC), King St. Stephen Museum (Hungary), and The Corcoran Gallery (DC). Growing up in a log home near Pennsylvania’s mining regions, she draws inspiration from obsolete technology, abandoned industry, and vintage advertisements.