We recently connected with Nicole “Nic” Rademacher and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole “Nic”, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

In 2016, I started a project called “Origin Stories.” It was a multifaceted series of community workshops, including presentations by artist-collaborators, an intimate concert, an exhibition tour, and an exhibition of artworks created by participants. In this work, I drew from my social-emotional arts education, where participants were invited to create stories via a series of visual prompts after presentations and intimate conversations. I stimulated dialogue about how we received our own origin stories and engaged participants in art-based activities to recreate their histories. “Origin Stories” challenged established narratives, promoted connection, and empowered the participants to envision new stories about themselves. This was the first big project that catapulted me into community-based work as an artist. It was during this work that I reflected on the traumas that the participants may have suffered and questioned my work: am I helping or hurting? I knew then that it would be important for me to return to school to be trained in healing. In 2018, I began studying at Loyola Marymount University in the their Marital & Family Therapy with a Specialization in Clinical Art Therapy program. I saw this as a way to be informed and ethical when creating projects like “Origin Stories.”

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Registered Art Therapist & Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, as well as a socially-engaged artist. The influence of my adoption and reunion (with my biological family) feature prominently in my studio practice, where I explore concepts of intimacy, identity, and belonging through visual work as well as in community engagement works. In my clinical work, I integrate mindfulness, somatic work, and EMDR, among others, through an art therapy lens. I specialize in working with adult adoptees. I hold an MA in Marital & Family Therapy with a Specialization in Clinical Art Therapy from Loyola Marymount University, an MFA from Alfred University, and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I also run art therapy groups both online and in-person, recently spearheading a pilot Museotherapy program at LACMA.

In my clinical practice, I work with individuals who may be struggling with feelings of loneliness yet also find it hard to trust others or those who have a grief that they find hard to describe or perhaps they have always felt like an outsider. Whatever they are struggling with, I help them feel better to live a full life. I support them in transforming on an emotional level interweaving somatic therapy, EMDR, and art therapy with the goal of helping them enjoy a more connected meaningful life. As mentioned above, I also run art therapy groups, specifically Museotherapy groups, this is art therapy in a museum or gallery space. I ran a pilot program called “Mental Health and Well-being in the Museum” at LACMA in January of 2023 and am in the midst of running a series of workshops at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art called “Experience Art as Therapy.”

In my studio practice, I am a socially-engaged artist working in community engagement and visual art. Being a transcultural adoptee from a closed adoption, I have spent my life searching for belonging. In my work, I employ that experience of in-depth investigation to explore identity, intimacy, and family both visually and by engaging communities such as BIPOC, queer, disabled, female-identifying, gender non-conforming, and adoptees because, based on lived experience and intimate conversations, these communities seem to have shared experiences. My community work may take the form of a series of workshops, convenings, exhibitions, or another method of social engagement, and in my visual artwork, I am multidisciplinary creating experimental documentaries and working in photography, collage, printmaking, and others. No matter the form, my approach is seated in experimenting with the intersection of art and therapeutic interventions. With the community, I create space for intimate group engagement and collective community care. While working on my own artwork, I profoundly reflect on my personal experiences looking for healing and understanding through making. All of my work functions as research into how we support ourselves and others, connecting and building community.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

My road to where I am now has been wandering, and I don’t think that I would go back and change a thing. Each experience and adventure has made me who I am both professionally and personally today. I believe that how my career works now, being both an artist and art therapist, is what I have been looking for. A way for me to practice simultaneously while working with people and helping them gain insight into their lives and heal.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Tenacity. Being an artist is not for the faint of heart. Not only do you need to be driven and determined to stay in the field, but you also need tenacity to work through your own projects and be one with the process. Straight out of high school I went to architecture school for two years. There I gained my work ethic and learned that design (and I see it any creative process) is not about the end product, but about how you navigate getting there. My art practice is process-driven just as my clinical practice, helping my clients gain insight themselves. Without tenacity to let the process be your guide, I would not be where I am or who I am today.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://nicolerademacher.com
• Instagram: @nicrrad
• Linkedin: @nicrrad

Image Credits
RademacherN-profile – Jeff Forney RademacherN01 – Matías MR RademacherN02 – Matías MR RademacherN03 – Matías MR RademacherN04 – Michael Rippens RademacherN05 – courtesy of Nicole Rademacher RademacherN06 – Panic Studio RademacherN07 – courtesy of the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art