ABOUT
Her work explores the frictions between bodies and bureaucracies, biology and bias. She is motivated by the dual desires to reimagine the social and material forms that govern everyday life and find belonging in the world. She is especially inspired by systems that fail to serve all people equally or feel immovable, and by the possibility that art can imagine new ways through them, together. For her, collaboration isn't a method; it's a fundamental value.
She is often drawn to questions beyond my own capacities— What inspires civic trust? Who has access to public space? How could aging become valuable? Functioning as collector, translator, futurist, facilitator, and director, she invites others—architects, engineers, teens, elders, psychologists, writers, neighbors—to join in her search. From intimate gestures to large public interventions, the answers are never singular or static, often living in process—taking the form of ephemeral experiences, temporary installations, speculative proposals. Their impact lies not only in the physical artifacts left behind but in the resulting networks, vocabularies, and imagineries.
She co-founded the art collective Works on Water in 2016 and serves to strengthen and grow the community of artists committed to making art in the urgency of climate change and increasing advocacy for urban waterways and ecologies.
Nowacek was awarded a Corrina Mehiel Fellowship by S.O.U.R.C.E. studio in 2024. From 2020-2022 she served as Education-Artist-In-Residence at the Walker Art Center, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design Community Engagement Fellowship for Intergenerational Research. She has been a fellow at Eyebeam, as well as a resident in the Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program, Recess, Pioneer Works, and Montalvo. She has received grants from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Jerome Foundation, the Brooklyn Arts Council, and Two Trees Cultural Programs. She has shown work in the United States, Canada, China, the Netherlands, and Venezuela.
Nowacek teaches design and design-related courses at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. She holds an MFA in Social Practice from California College of the Arts, an MFA in Visual Communication from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a BFA in Photography and Design from the University of Michigan.
She is certified in mental health first aid and personal fitness training.