Creative Facilitation
Sometimes you need a fresh perspective to find new solutions.
If you need to spark change, get out of a rut, or bring some invigorating inspiration to your team, I’m just the person for the job.
Browse some facilitation case studies.
Community Gathering
@ Teen Science Cafe Network
community formation, informal STEM education, excitement
GOAL: to unite adults around the organization’s goals and foster community across a widespread national network
I was hired by TSCN to facilitate a national gathering of a group of adults who each run a by-youth, for-youth Teen Science Cafe in their home region. These folks didn’t know each other, and the organization had recently come under the umbrella of the STEM Next Opportunity Fund. I worked with the TSCN staff to develop and run a fun and playful day aimed at celebrating the cafes’ accomplishments, deepening relationships between the adult cafe leaders, and reinforcing the key values each cafe should uphold: Interactivity, Authenticity, Youth Power, Guidance, Diversity, Community.
Gallery Encounters
@ Guggenheim Museum
playful, free-choice, unguided
GOAL: to enliven the museum on summertime weeknight extended hours with an array of independent experiences meant to surprise
Visitors got to opt in to lighthearted prompts throughout the galleries:
partake in an exchange of words that creates meaningful connections
learn about making figurative sculptures; then create your own artwork
collect cards from museum staff with fun prompts like From memory, draw a map of your visit so far
Pay What You Wish Adventures
@ Guggenheim Museum
mysterious, iterative design, people-centered
GOAL: to enliven museum visits in unexpected, unguided ways that respond to visitors’ stated interests
I created the first experiences planned for the Guggenheim’s weekly “pay what you wish” (PWYW) admission hours, which were always busy and brought a wider than usual range of visitors into the museum.
Over three months, I asked visitors what they wanted during PWYW time, then developed a series of low-touch, unguided experiences in response. Including:
museum trivia cards to complete while in line to enter
slow-looking and drawing activities for visitors to do on their own (shout out to collaborator Blake Paskal)
“Mysterious Guidance”: visitors carried assistive listening devices and heard philosophical artist-inspired prompts in their ears every few minutes during their time in the museum
Slow Change: Not a Consolation Prize
@ Museum Computer Network
immersive, community bonding, experiential
GOAL: to spark deep thought about the value of slow change in a session that modeled the values it promoted
At the 2017 Museum Computer Network conference, I convened a group of facilitators to lead a session based on the prompt of a silent-disco format program about slow change
We created a welcoming room with calming sensory elements (candles, herbs, cushions, chimes) and played audio prompts into attendees’ ears to encourage discussion
The session modeled an intentionally slow, calm format, as an alternative to calls for fast-paced, dramatic changes
“You have an amazing way of creating space for deep contemplation and thinking beyond the day to day.”—session attendee
Museum Sage®
internal reflection, holistic attention, trust
GOAL: find insight and guidance from a piece of art about a deep question in your life
I’m a fully trained Museum Sage® guide and use this process with clients.
Museum Sage® is a life coaching game developed by artist, designer, and life coach, Laurie Phillips. In a Museum Sage® session, the guide helps people find insight around specific, meaningful, personal questions by examining a work of visual art.
Art Oracle
@ Brooklyn Museum
intuitive, mood-based guidance, fun
GOAL: to prompt close looking, reflection, curiosity, excitement, conversation in an unexpected, fun way
I encourage teachers to bring their full, embodied selves to the fore and find enjoyment as creative adults.
New York City teachers at a free open-house reported their mood to "the oracle" staff member (shout out to collaborator Samantha Serrano) and received a color-coded set of artwork cards around one of these themes:
• participatory • intricate • immersive • nostalgic • talkative • custom (compiled on the spot)
Each set of cards guided the bearer to find an artwork and respond to a prompt inspired by their reported mood.
Let’s get outside the box together!
“Rachel is such a curious, creative, thoughtful facilitator who'll walk you through any subject in a way that will leave with a whole new way of looking at things– whether it's art, creativity, work life, or travel! I've loved learning from her and finding new ways of approaching everyday challenges in work and life.”
—Anne Barrow; Writer/Editor and Global Communications Specialist