“Rachel DeGuzman was and remains the most enlightened visionary cultural hero, marketing and publicity implementer that STREB EXTREME ACTION has ever worked with. She believes in spreading the magic elixir of all the arts into the community and out into the streets; to build the true and future legacy of the irreplaceable value of culture all across the United States.”
Elizabeth Streb, Artistic Director at STREB Extreme Action Company
ABOUT
21st Century Arts is a Rochester, NY based arts consultancy that offers strategic solutions for artists and cultural organizations to overcome many of the challenges that threaten mission fulfillment and sustainability. Our services include organizational development, strategic marketing, the planning and implementation of special projects/initiatives, and the development of customized approaches for connecting arts and cultural organizations to diverse communities.
Rachel DeGuzman is president & CEO of 21st Century Arts, a Rochester, NY based arts consultancy. She is the founder and executive producer of Diversity in the Arts: A Call to Action symposium and the Entrepreneurship in the Arts: A Call to Action symposium as well as the recently launched A Street Light Festival.
DeGuzman is the recipient of a The Field's Field Leadership Fund Arts Manager Fellowship and through her fellowship pairing is the executive director of Kyoung’s Pacific Beat – a peacemaking theater company based in Brooklyn, New York.
She was recently named a 2016 Athena ©Award Finalist. Rachel received the Essie Calhoun Diversity in the Arts Award – presented annually by Geva Theatre Center. Rachel is a program partner of Janklow Arts Leadership Program at Syracuse University. She serves as an ongoing pro-bono advisor to several local arts/cultural organizations and is on the Unite Rochester Challenge steering committee.
Rachel is the host of a weekly radio show, Up Close and Cultural, on WAYO 104.3 FM.
DeGuzman was 1 of 14 national arts professionals selected by Association of Performing Arts Presenters and New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service for participation in the 2012/2013 Leadership Development Institute - where she spent a year in collective inquiry focused on the theme of Knowing and Connecting Art with Community.
Her past positions include director of advancement/external relations at Rochester City Ballet and marketing and publicity manager of Nazareth College Arts Center where she was a key staff member in the development and launch of the Nazareth College Arts Center Dance Festival. At the Arts Center, she established the first partnership with the New York Dance Performance (“Bessie”) Awards – outside of New York City.
DeGuzman was director of development/communications at The Commission Project and director of development at Garth Fagan Dance.
Rachel served on Mayor Warren's Neighborhood: Quality of Life transition focus group in Rochester, New York; was a grant panelist for Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester and NYSCA/REDC. She was a member of the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester’s Cultural Diversity Initiative Committee. DeGuzman was a past member of William Warfield Scholarship Fund board.
DeGuzman was a 2011 NY Emmy nominee as the Executive Producer of Elizabeth Streb: A Forces Debut at Nazareth Festival; 2014 AND 2011 Coach Awards presented by Visit Rochester Industry Council for exceptional leadership; Case Bronze Award in Media Relations; 3 PRSA Rochester Chapter Awards of Excellence; and 1 PRism Award in Media Relations.
“Rachel’s ability to grasp the potential of an opportunity, orchestrate a collective and structured approach and to lead others to success, is a skillset to be acknowledged and appreciated.”
Gregory Marshall, Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing at VisitRochester