Rachel Yurkovich ('14 Sculpture)

Rachel Yurkovich is an American mixed-media artist based in Cleveland, Ohio. She spent her childhood in North Macedonia and the Czech Republic before returning to the U.S. to earn a BFA in Sculpture and Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2014.

Upon graduation, Rachel received the First Agnes Gund Traveling Award, funding her 2016 trip to Chernobyl, Ukraine, where she recorded the short film Black Grass, documenting wildlife reclaiming the abandoned site. This journey inspired her ongoing focus on the intersections of human-made and natural worlds.

Rachel’s recent work includes videos and word collages, which have been featured in solo exhibitions at venues such as The Sculpture Center (OH) and Matthaei Botanical Gardens (MI), as well as in film festivals across the U.S. and Europe.

In addition to her art practice, Rachel has worked in exhibits and technology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Metroparks. She is currently the Associate Director of Technology at the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Interactive Media Lab, where she helps others bring their creative ideas to life using cutting-edge tools.