BIOGRAPHY
Rachel Heberling (she/her) is the Program Manager of Native Arts Professional Development (NAPD) at First Peoples Fund. 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.
Rachel brings over a decade of experience in the arts nonprofit sector as an Artist, Executive, and Program Manager. Prior to joining First Peoples Fund, she served as Executive Director of Frontline Arts, where she previously held the role of Studio and Program Manager. During her tenure, she integrated social outreach programs, including Frontline Paper—an initiative transforming military uniforms into handmade paper through veteran-led workshops—while also honoring the organization’s rich history in collaborative printmaking and papermaking. Under her leadership, the organization 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, such as NJSCA Capital Arts and NEA-MAAA Creative Forces.
Rachel prioritized sustainability at Frontline Arts, implementing environmentally conscious materials and fostering a socially engaged, culturally minded print and papermaking studio. She also hosted world-renowned, socio-political letterpress printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. for a NJSCA grant-funded program to create prints alongside members of the Lenape Nation and the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum for Indigenous People’s Day.
She holds an MFA in Printmaking from The Ohio State University, and her work has been exhibited internationally in venues such as the National Arts Club, NYC; King St Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár, Hungary; and The Corcoran Gallery Museum, DC. Her artwork is influenced by growing up in a log home near the mining regions of Pennsylvania, as much of her work portrays obsolete technology, abandoned industry and vintage advertisements. She and her family are members of the unrecognized Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and are dedicated students of the Unami language, with hopes of becoming instructors. She credits her mother’s artistry in painting, ribbonwork, beadwork, and sewing for shaping her connection to Indigenous traditions and communities.
