Interdisciplinary artist · ATR-BC · LMFT · Los Angeles, CA
nic [at] nicolerademacher [dot] com | nicolerademacher [dot] com
Lived and worked in Barcelona (2001–02, 2005–06), Nantes (2004–05), Santiago de Chile (2008–12), and Nairobi (2012). Based in Los Angeles since 2012.
EDUCATION
2021 MA Marital & Family Therapy w/ specialized training in Clinical Art Therapy, Loyola Marymount University, LA, CA
2008 MFA Electronic Integrated Arts, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
2004 BFA concentrating in photography & video, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
1996-98 Coursework in Architecture and Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
SELECTED HONORS + AWARDS
2026–27 California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, via 18th Street Arts Center
2023–24 Individual Artist Fellow, California Arts Council
2023–24 California Creative Corps Fellow, California Arts Council & Arts Council for Long Beach
2023 Adoptees for Awareness Grant, S12F and Adoptees Connect, Inc.
2022 California Relief Fund for Artists and Cultural Practitioners
2018 Maxine B. Junge Scholarship, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Veridian Community Engagement Fellowship Award
2016 Artistic Community Engagement Grant, Los Angeles, Rema Hort Mann Foundation
2012 Regional Artist Project Grant, North Carolina Arts Council
2007 SUNY Graduate Diversity Fellowship, NYSCC at Alfred University
2006–08 MFA Fellowship, NYSCC at Alfred University
2005 Finalist, Le Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains, Tourcoing, France
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS + SCREENINGS
2026 The sky broke when I was allowed to fly. / Se rompió el cielo cuando me dejaron volar., solo exhibition, LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA. Project development supported in part by a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship + Adoptees for Awareness Grant. Presentation supported in part by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. Ceramic components first developed at Cécile Ribas — Escultura Ceràmica, Breda, Catalonia, Spain.
2024 A Woman’s Voice in a Pivotal Time, juried by Kim Abeles, Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art, The Makery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 The Drawing Show, Sade LA, curated by Daniela Soberman and Brian Lee Hughes, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Through the Eyes of Adoptees, Encompass Adoptees, organized by Heather Gonzalez, Columbus, OH
2022 Home Edition, Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, curated by Rebecca Trawick, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2022 Dear Mother, LA Artcore, curated by Caroline Yoo and Kayla Tange, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Athens Digital Arts Festival, Athens, Greece
2021 Fresh 2021, SoLA Contemporary, curated by Anuradha Vikram, Inglewood, CA
2019 Evening Red, aboard the Museum Ship Lilac, organized by MW Projects, New York, NY
2018 a bird settled on the fire escape, presented by Able ARTS Work, Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, CA
2017 Origin Stories, Atrium Gallery, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
2016 The Breakdown: Recombinant Poetics, Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2015 TEMPORAL, Centro de Arte Digital en Memoria de Juan Downey, Puerto Varas, Chile
2013 TEMPORAL: Videoarte de Larga Duración, Chilean Consulate, curated by Macarena Molina, New York, NY
2013 Constelación video arte en feminino, Espacio Igualdad, Madrid, Spain
2012 FASE 4, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2012 East and West Women Artists, Gallery of the Hubei Academy of Fine Arts, China
2012 SEIS=DOS, organized by Paula Cortés, Galería Espora, Santiago, Chile
2011 End to End, curated by Moyi Zhang (张默一), Zeljka Blaksic, & Elizabeth Tolson, Harvestworks, New York, NY
2011 eyeseverywhere, ongoing project founded by Elizabeth Ross + Ayanna Jolivet McCloud, Fábrica de Imágenes, Morelia, Mexico
2011 Waterpieces Contemporary Art & Videoart Festival, Riga, Latvia
2010 Congreso Internacional Mujer, Arte y Tecnología en la Nueva Esfera Pública, Valencia, Spain
2010 Art Beijing Contemporary Art Fair, Beijing, China
2010 Video Art For All, Orient Foundation, Casa Garden, Macau
2009 re-new 2009, digital arts forum, Copenhagen, Denmark
2008 Gusto at the Gallery, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
2008 Semantic Illustrations, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred, NY
2008 Alfred International, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2008 CologneOFF IV: Here We Are!, curated by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne; world premiere at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo MACZUL, Maracaibo, Venezuela; German premiere at 24 Hours of Nuremberg Film Festival
2008 LOOP Video Art Festival, Barcelona, Spain
2007 LOOP Video Art Festival, Barcelona, Spain
2005 Transmediale.05, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
2017 Gate Pass, Terminal 3, Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA. Commissioned by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs; produced in stages, 2012–16, beginning during three months of fieldwork in Kenya, with support from a Regional Artist Project Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, individual donors, and a crowdfunding campaign fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas. Photo dioramas on long-term institutional loan to the Department of Marital + Family Therapy, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA, 2025–27.
SELECTED RESIDENCIES + STUDIOS
2016–17 Beacon Arts Building Artist Studio Complex, Inglewood, CA (shared studio)
2011–12 Aguafuerte Taller de Grabado y Dibujo (printmaking and drawing studio), Santiago, Chile
2010 La Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
2005–06 Sala d’Estar, Barcelona, Spain (studio + collaborations)
2001–02 Golden d’Or, Barcelona, Spain (studio + collaborations)
SELECTED PARTICIPATORY WORK + MUSEOTHERAPY
2027 Still Here (forthcoming), five-part facilitated community art series for Angelenos whose lives were shaped by the 2025 fires, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA. Supported by the California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund.
2026 aún sin título, five-hour facilitated co-creation session with traci kato-kiriyama, presented within The sky broke when I was allowed to fly. / Se rompió el cielo cuando me dejaron volar., LA Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
2026 Museotherapy workshop for Art, Therapy, and the Problem of Repair, invited by Suzanne Hudson, 2025–26 Getty Scholar, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
2025 Art-making in Community for Healing, facilitated community gatherings, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA. Materials supported in part by the Arts & Healing Initiative.
2023–24 We Are Not Our Cruxes, artist-conceived + led multi-part initiative on the mental health + lived experiences of adopted adults + people who grew up in foster care; five hybrid convenings with curated panelists, facilitated art-making + scholarly research, various sites in Los Angeles + online, with remote clinical support for online participants by Heather Gonzales, LPC + Mj Buck, LCSW. Funded by the California Arts Council’s California Creative Corps program through the Arts Council for Long Beach.
2023–24 Experience Art as Therapy, museotherapy program invited by Rebecca Trawick, Director/Curator, Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2023 Mental Health and Well-Being in the Museum, museotherapy pilot invited by Chelo Montoya and co-presented by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art + Westmont Counseling Center, Los Angeles, CA (case study in development)
2022 Topographic Walking Tour and Workshops, Illuminate LA, curated by Anuradha Vikram, Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Los Angeles, CA
2020–24 Being Adopted, three-part participatory installation drawing on crowdsourced responses from 252 self-identified adoptees across 16 countries
2020 Separate/Together, Drive-By-Art Los Angeles, organized by Warren Neidich, Renee Petropoulos, Michael Slenske, and Anuradha Vikram, Acogedor Space, Los Angeles, CA
2016–17 Origin Stories, workshops presented at Self-Help Graphics & Art; ONE Gallery/MOCA Pacific Design Center; California African American Museum; 18th Street Arts Center; University of Northern Iowa; and Acogedor Space. Supported in part by the Veridian Community Engagement Fellowship Award + the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Artistic Community Engagement Grant.
2012 Arts Appreciation Program, conceived + coordinated for the youth program at Maji Mazuri Centre, Nairobi, Kenya; a series of visits to contemporary art exhibitions with the curator and/or artist in conversation with participants, at the Nairobi National Museum, the Goethe-Institut Nairobi, and The GoDown Arts Centre.
SELECTED CURATORIAL + ORGANIZING PROJECTS
2020–22 Invisibilit(ies), curated + moderated online conversation series, Acogedor
2014 With Entheogenic Intent (Burn the Witch), exhibition by Elena Bajo; interim curator + organizer, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
2010–2012 Chilean Video Art RIGHT NOW!, selected through an international open call to Chilean video artists. Screened in USA, Cuba, France, and Latvia
2007–2009 Alfred University Presenta, Programa de escuelas, Loop Video Art Festival, Barcelona, Spain
2007 Saya Woolfalk, one-week visiting artist program; conceived + organized, comprising a lecture, critiques + performance workshop, Alfred University, Alfred, NY. Supported by Alfred University + community fundraising.
2001 Nuclear Shelter, conceived, produced + curated; exhibition, fashion show + live event, HotHouse / Center for International Performance & Exhibition (CIPEX), Chicago, IL
SELECTED LECTURES, PANELS + CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2024 “Art as Healing: Preliminary Findings from We Are Not Our Cruxes,” Decolonizing Adoption + Creative Resistance Conference, online
2024 “We Are Not Our Cruxes,” 11th Annual Art Therapy Research Symposium, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
2021 “Personal Art-making and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” American Art Therapy Association Annual Conference, online
2021 “In Conversation: HOME EDITIONS,” Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2021 “Active Voice Part 2: Wellness at Home and In Community,” Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
2021 “Selected Works,” University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
2019 “How Does Digital Technology Impact Art Therapy?,” Digital International Creative Arts Therapies Symposium, livestream
2010 “Curating Video Art: An Epistemic Dilemma,” Festival de Videoarte Camagüey, Cuba
2009 “Activated by Perception,” University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
SELECTED WRITING + RESEARCH
2026 “Mental Health in the Museum: A Case Study at LACMA,” case study in development
2021 “Art-making and Wellbeing with Professional Artists During a Pandemic,” with Ilyse Lindsey + Schelsey Mahammadie-Sabet, LMU Theses and Dissertations, Loyola Marymount University
2014 “Chance as structure for artistic Practice,” in Elena Bajo: With Entheogenic Intent (Burn the Witch), 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
ARTIST BOOKS
2010 Longing & Distance: CHILE, self-published, Paris
2008 Longing & Distance: through gesture, self-published, Alfred, NY
2007 Milwaukee after coming to Milwaukee from California, self-published, Alfred, NY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Koslow, Jessica. “Healing Series: Art therapy addresses collective trauma for Los Angeles wildfires Survivors,” The Argonaut, May 15, 2025
Benn, Simon. (Host) “Belonging and Healing with Nicole Rademacher,” Thriving Adoptees, Nov 13, 2023
Syverson, Beth. (Host) “Art as a Tool for Empowerment for Adoptees and Former Foster Youth with Nicole Rademacher,” Unraveling Adoption, Oct 23, 2023
Dambrot, Shana Nys, “The Art of Feeling Better: Wellness at the Museum,” LA Weekly, Jan 27, 2023
Vikram, Anuradha, “How Do I Bring Attention to My Work?,” KCET Southland Sessions, Sept 16, 2020
Keats, Jonathon, “With The Arrival Of Drive-By Art, The Car Culture Of Los Angeles Is Getting A Cultural Boost In The Age Of Covid-19,” Forbes, May 29, 2020
Radke, Haley. (Host) “Nicole R. – Our Story Isn’t Told,” AdopteesOn, Dec 2017
Baskas, Harriet, “Fresh Art at SFO, MIA, STL, and LAX,” Stuck At The Airport, Apr 29, 2017
Molina, Macarena, “TEMPORAL: Video arte de larga duración” (in Spanish), Artishock, Oct 2013
Molina, Macarena, “Nicole Rademacher: Artista, Curadora y Viajera” (in Spanish), Artishock, Jan 2012
LANGUAGES
Spanish, bilingual fluency
French, advanced proficiency