Baker Artist Portfolios

s. Rasheem (known simply as Rasheem) is an interdisciplinary Womanist artist, social scientist, filmmaker, and cultural memory worker whose creative practice is rooted in truth-telling, liberation, and the preservation of Black life. As the creator of The Baltimore Legacy Project (BLP)—a multi-part documentary and cultural memory initiative—Rasheem is committed to unearthing, preserving, and amplifying the lived experiences of Black Baltimoreans from 1950–2024. Grounded in the African proverb “The youth can move quickly, but the elders know the way,” her work restores intergenerational knowledge and uplifts the stories of those who helped shape Baltimore’s civic, political, social, and cultural landscape.

Rasheem is the Producer, Director, and Writer of Baltimore Still Rising, the first installment of the Baltimore Legacy Project. The 90-minute film centers the voices of twenty Baltimore residents who lived through the 2015 uprising following the death of Freddie Gray. Through intimate interviews, Baltimore Still Rising captures the grief, clarity, resilience, and communal power that defined Baltimore’s response to injustice—positioning the film as both a historical account and a testament to the city’s ongoing fight for justice and repair.

A trained social scientist and researcher, Rasheem’s academic work examines how socio-historical contexts and intersecting identities shape lived experiences. For years, her scholarship has focused on Baltimore City; yet much of it remained locked behind academic paywalls, inaccessible to the very communities it sought to serve. Recognizing this gap, she turned toward film and interdisciplinary art as a method of returning knowledge to the people—merging rigorous research with accessible cultural storytelling. Her creative and scholarly work aligns with a singular commitment: ensuring that her labor in and for Baltimore generates tangible impact in the lives of its residents.

As a visual artist, Rasheem’s practice spans pencil, charcoal, pastel, and mixed media. Her work is both precise and intentionally messy—reflecting the complexity of Black life and the intersections of race, gender, class, and geography. Her art centers the experiences of marginalized communities and contributes to the growing body of work dedicated to the expression, protection, and celebration of Black life. Poetry frequently threads through her visual forms, appearing in the contours of faces, the textures of clothing, or hidden among layers of color.

Her visual works have been exhibited across Baltimore, including at Impact Hub (2016, 2017), The Feminist Art Project (2017), DoveCote Café (2017), and The Art Trap House (2017). She has served as Lead Artist and Muralist with Jubilee Arts’ Art @ Work program, guiding Baltimore City youth in the conceptualization and creation of large-scale public murals. Rasheem was also a Peer Mentor and Co-Creator of the “Baltimore Underground Art Scene” immersion program with Baltimore Collegetown, helping students explore Baltimore’s deep artistic history, cultural landscape, and community-based creative practices.
As a poet, Rasheem has released two spoken word albums—Truth Serum (2015) and Be More (2016)—and competed in the 2014 Baltimore Poetry Slam semi-finals. Her poetry, like her visual and cinematic work, is an invitation to witness, remember, and critically examine the world. In 2026 She was named Baltimore’s Artivist of the Year in the Baltimore Crown Awards.

Interdisciplinary in method and unapologetically rooted in lived experience, s. Rasheem’s work exists at the intersection of art, research, movement history, and cultural lineage. Whether through film, drawing, murals, or poetry, she remains committed to creating art that remembers, art that confronts, and art that liberates. Her work is a love letter to Baltimore—its elders, its fighters, its dreamers, and its future generations.