Kansas City, MO
she/her
As an art museum interpretation specialist, Rafaela creates engaging and empowering art experiences while taking a critical approach to systemic challenges and erasures in the field. With expertise in digital media, she develops methods and tools that encourage audience members and artists to share their voices and make personal connections in institutions that have historically excluded them. Rafaela is currently an Interpretation Associate at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where she collaboratively crafts exhibition narratives and interpretive content while exploring holistic ways to foster inclusivity within the museum. Her work here builds on professional roles, fellowships, and internships at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Penn Museum, Philadelphia, PA; the historical center Naper Settlement, Naperville, IL––where she donned hoopskirts and practiced blacksmithing as a costumed educator––and the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. Rafaela earned her master’s and undergraduate degrees in art history from the University of Chicago.
Rafaela has led interpretive planning for select exhibitions at the Nelson-Atkins, including More Is More: Reinventing Photography Beyond the Frame (2025), Wrapped Walk WaysA Gift from The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation (2025), Legendary Landscapes: Sublime Visions from China's Song Dynasty (2026), and Timeless Mucha: the Magic of Line (2026). She also served as co-interpreter for Painted Worlds: Color and Culture in Mesoamerican Art at the Nelson-Atkins (2025), The Shape of Time: Korean Art after 1989 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2023), and Mary Cassatt at Work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2024). Publications include "Visualizing Loss at the Oriental Institute Museum" in the 2021 edition of Fwd: Museums and a catalog entry for Theme and Variations: The Multiple Sorceries of Félix Buhot (2018).
