Strategic Partnership
You want to make change from the inside while benefiting from outside expertise.
When you’re overworked and not able to give your all to all your projects, I can lighten your load.
Browse some strategic partnership case studies.
Public Tour Program Revitalization
@ Boston Public Library
change management, strategic alignment
GOAL: to refresh and re-envision how public tours of the Library might align with a new strategic plan and serve visitors more flexibly
I worked with Katherine Mitchell, PhD, the Boston Public Library’s Visitor Experience Coordinator, to re-imagine what experiences library patrons and visitors might have with the knowledgeable, long-serving tour guides.
As the library adopted a new strategic plan in 2025, tour goals needed to shift. Using listening sessions, brainstorming, prototyping, and testing, I worked with the tour guides and library staff to assess what was working, what needed to change, and what new possibilities might lead into the future.
“Rachel took the time to understand the institution, strategic priorities, stakeholder perspectives, and the history of the program and then implemented intentional structures and strategies to help stakeholders think through challenges and opportunities in a much more open-ended and creative way than we would have been able to do ourselves. She is communicative and professional, and I genuinely looked forward to our conversations and working sessions.”—Katherine Mitchell
Docent Curriculum Development
@ Chrysler Museum of Art
contemporary museum teaching, inclusive approach
GOAL: to co-create a curriculum for training new docents that addresses the museum’s current needs
I collaborated with Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick, the Chrysler’s Deputy Director of Public Engagement and Learning to develop an up-to-date training curriculum taking an incoming class of docents from brand new to leading tours in the galleries over six months.
The curriculum included both an in-person and an independent study cohort, so that working professionals could also take part, while still having a community to learn with.
“Having Rachel as a collaborator let me breathe easier and have an outside perspective. Rachel is an incredible thought leader. She is a joy to work with because she is proactive and patient. She is responsive and she takes all requests to heart. She listens and she approaches her work comprehensively. She "knows her stuff" and you walk away from her feeling encouraged and like a weight has been lifted.”—Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick
Changeover Interpretation
@ Guggenheim Museum
de-mystifying the museum, new perspectives, adaptation
GOAL: to explore the “Changeover” period between exhibitions when the work of deinstallation/installation happens in public
I love Changeover more than most and spent my whole Guggenheim career testing ways of sharing this behind the scenes action with visitors. Including:
led Pratt Institute’s Avant-Garde Museum Education students to create prototypes of an information card and in-gallery experiences
Joana Avillez illustrated Changeover collaboration
Changeover factoid signs in galleries
“this was probably one of the most valuable learning experiences I had during my studies at Pratt.”—Pratt Institute grad student
Verbal Description Audioguides
@ Guggenheim Museum
accessibility, disability advocacy, creative expression
GOAL: to describe works of art with mindful, compelling language for people who are blind or have low vision, along with sighted visitors
I wrote and recorded evocative verbal descriptions of artworks at the Guggenheim Museum for visitors who are blind or have low vision (or anyone interested in rich descriptions).
Giacometti / Visionaries / But a Storm Is Blowing from Paradise
Humanizing the Digital
@ Ad Hoc Museum Collective
self-publishing, collectivity, flattening hierarchy
GOAL: to collect key ideas and takeaways from the 2018 Museum Computer Network annual conference
After the 2018 MCN conference, a group of attendees wanted a way to gather the thoughtful reflections often shared only in hallway conversations at conferences.
We put out an open call and collected essays about people’s takeaways from the conference, edited them and self-published them as a book, with all proceeds supporting MCN’s scholarship fund.
After a year, we made the entire book freely available to all online, using Quire, The Getty’s open-source online publishing platform.
I co-edited the book, wrote chapter 8, and contributed to chapter 17.
Consultant for Gallery Teaching & Collections Training
@ MFABoston
internal culture shift, coaching, art historical research
GOAL: to provide continuity and attention to staff and volunteers while the museum hired a new Director of Gallery Teaching & Collections
At the invitation of Dr. Nile Blunt, the museum’s Senior Director of Museum Learning, I stepped in to foster a unified, collaborative spirit within a reorganized department and to provide a sense of continuity while a new full-time staff person was hired. My work took several forms, including:
iterative coaching process for docents: developing a new rubric, conducting small group coaching sessions, providing written and verbal feedback, and determining docents’ readiness to lead public tours
continuing education sessions: topic-specific professional development for docents about how to address difficult topics and engage museum visitors creatively
expanding object resources: conducting art historical research and devising possible engagement strategies for an expanded set of the museum’s objects so docents had a more inclusive and wide-reaching set of options to teach with
office hours: open time for volunteers and staff to meet with me to share questions and concerns
“This was a great way to bolster our confidence to reimagine and expand our tour perspectives and purpose as we prepare to head back to the galleries. Spending time learning with Rachel is a gift we receive… unwrap it and share it with joy!” —MFA school group and adult tour guide
Let’s put our heads together
and make surprising change!
“In Rachel’s exquisite blend of gallery teaching, object research, and audience centered thinking, I continue to learn from her both in outward public and inward staff facing work. Her patience, intelligence, care, and generosity are boundless. She is an inspiring leader mostly in that her values show in her work and we, as her colleagues, can see that in her quieter displays of presence.”
—Christina Yang, Executive Director @ AAMC Foundation (Association of Art Museum Curators)