Welcome to our new Heritage Development Officer

Please welcome Rachael Campbell-Palmer to the Hearth team. Rachael will be taking on the role of Heritage Development Officer for Hearth.   

Rachael brings over 15 years of experience in the arts and cultural sector, with expertise in leadership, partnership and business development. Previously, she was the Director of The Black Box for six years, a venue renowned for nurturing artists, festivals, and creative communities. More recently, Rachael was Director of The Court House in Bangor, a music and arts venue that opened in October 2022 in a restored Victorian listed building on Bangor’s seafront.  

Rachael holds a First-Class BA Hons Degree in Fine & Applied Art and a Master’s in Fine Art from Ulster University. Additionally, she completed a European Diploma in Cultural Project Management through the Marcel Hicter Foundation in Belgium. 

As a freelance producer, Rachael has developed a range of projects including North Star, a Belfast 2024 commission, Absolute Rocket! and Making Waves in collaboration with Reimagine, Remake, Replay and the Ulster Museum. She has designed and led creative programmes in partnership with the Ulster Folk Museum, Belfast Film Festival, NI Science Festival, and NI Mental Health Arts Festival. 

Rachael is a board member for Moving On Music. In addition to her curatorial and management roles, Rachael has an active sculpture practice and has exhibited in Belfast, Derry, and Dublin. Her work is represented by Uphold a not-for-profit platform representing contemporary artists in NI. She has delivered artist talks at the Belfast School of Art and through the Seamus Heaney Centre Presents series. Rachael also facilitates casting and mould-making workshops for organisations such as Flax Art Studios, Catalyst Arts, and Void Arts Centre. 

We are very grateful to the Dormant Accounts Fund NI for making this role possible.