Education
2018– MFA, Intermedia + Digital Arts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD (anticipated Spring 2021)
2017 BS, Electronic Media and Film, Towson University, Towson, MD
2010 Young Scholars Program, Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Courses: ARCH 150 - Discovering Architecture (3)
Awards, Grants, Acknowledgments
2020 Most Cultured Podcast Nominee - OBSIDIAN Podcast, Black Podcasting Awards
2020 Red Bull Arts Baltimore Microgrant - August
2020 IGNYTE Award Nominee - Best Fiction Podcast - OBSIDIAN Podcast, FIYAHCON 2020, FIYAH Literary Magazine
2020 Baltimore Artist Retreat, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Baltimore, MD
2019 Rubys Artist Grant - Media Arts - OBSIDIAN Podcast, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Baltimore, MD
2019 Professional Development Grant, UMBC Graduate Student Association, Baltimore County, MD
2017 Made in Baltimore Festival, Baltimore, MD
Official Selection and Audience Choice Award, A Letter From the 8th Floor (2017)
2017 Women in Leadership Conference, Towson University, Towson, MD
Nominated Attendant by College Dean
2016 Media Arts Festival, Towson University, Towson, MD
2nd Place Music Mixing, Across (2016)
Group Exhibition History
2020 "Everything is Connected" Jubilee Arts, Baltimore, MD (Solo; Online due to COVID-19)
2020 OBSIDIAN Podcast, Refusing Refusal, Baltimore, MD (Online due to COVID-19)
2019 “No Walls, No Bans, No Borders” The Peale Center, Baltimore, MD (curated by Rebel Lens Bmore)
2019 “Supernova” StartUp Shell - University of Maryland, College Park, MD (curated by Tajbik Sheikh)
2019 “Sister Cities Animated!” Sweaty Eyeballs Animation, Baltimore, MD (curated by Lynn Tomlinson and myself)
2016 Made in Baltimore Short Film Festival, Baltimore, MD
2016 “Progress” 4c Gallery (online), Baltimore, MD (curated by Markele Cullins and Suldano Abdiruhman)
Curatorial Experience
2019 “Sister Cities Animated!” Sweaty Eyeballs Animation, Parkway Theater, Baltimore, MD, February 11
2018 “Bmore Accomplished: Not Just History... Black History,” Calendar, Wide Angle Youth Media, Baltimore, MD, Fall 2018
2018 The Skin We’re In, Zine, Wide Angle Youth Media, Baltimore, MD, Spring 2018
Presentations, Conferences, Panels
2020 "Making a Case for W.E.B. Du Bois as a Proto-Afrofuturist," History Should Make You Uncomfortable, presenter, Coalition of Master's Scholars on Material Culture, November 21 (Online due to COVID-19)
2020 “WOC Artists Panel,” The BlackPrint, presenter, University of Maryland, College Park’s Multicultural Involvement & Community Advocacy (MICA), College Park, MD, February 26
2019 “Baltimore Spotlight: OBSIDIAN,” From Disordered to Deadly: Information and Power, presenter, Media Democracy Fund, Baltimore, MD, December 4
2019 “Instances of Behavioral Dissonance,” Border Control: Symposium & Exhibition, presenter, New Media Caucus, Ann Arbor, MI, September 21
2019 “#AllRappersGoToHeaven,” Shell Talk, presenter, StartUp Shell - University of Maryland, College Park, MD, April 4
2018 “Mapping a Pathway to Success through Creative Youth Development,” presenter, Maryland Out-of-School Time Network Conference, Baltimore, MD, January 10
Work History
2020– Volunteer Awesome Seat/Trustee, The Awesome Foundation - Baltimore, MD Chapter
2020 Research Assistant, Office of Curatorial Affairs, Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC, February-April
2019-20 Exhibition Designer, Center For Art, Design And Visual Culture, UMBC, Baltimore, MD
2019– Co-Creator/Producer/Writer, OBSIDIAN Podcast, Baltimore MD
2019 Community Communications Manager, Rap Research Lab, Baltimore, MD, June-August
2018-19 Communications and Social Media Research Assistant, Intermedia + Digital Arts MFA Department, UMBC, Baltimore County, MD
2015-19 Volunteer Short Film Judge, Muslim Interscholastic Tournament, Washington, DC
2013 Research and Membership Intern, Maryland Film Festival, Baltimore, MD, June-August
Teaching Experience
2019-20 Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD
Introduction to Printmaking, Fall 2020
Intermedia Studio, Fall 2020
Introduction to Art + Media Studies, Fall and Spring 2019-2020
Visual Concepts I, Fall 2019
2019-20 Instructor, Summer Enrichment Academy (SEA), University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD
The Art of Stop-Motion Animation, Summer 2020
The Art of Sound Animation, Summer 2019
2016-18 Lead Media Instructor, Wide Angle Youth Media, Baltimore MD
Animation, Fall 2016 and Spring 2017
Social Design, Fall and Spring 2016-2018
2016-17 Teaching Assistant, Towson University, Towson, MD
Visual Effects, Fall 2016
Animation Action Lab, Spring 2017
2013-16 Teaching Assistant, Govans Elementary School, Baltimore, MD
Writing and Reading Comprehension, Fall and Spring 2013-2016
Press, Publications
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
Lauren Passell, "⚰️ Lincoln's cadaver, Billie Holliday, a hip-hop conspiracy theory, Oklahoma City 🎶 Endless Thread's Amory Sivertson 🧵" Podcast The Newsletter, 12 October. Web.
https://podcastthenewsletter.substack.com/p/-lincolns-cadaver-billie-holliday
"60 Minutes Through Space." Open World, 8 October. Web. https://www.openworldradio.com/2020/10/08/60-minutes-through-space/
Lakshmi Gandhi, "55 years later, 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X' still inspires." NBC News, 10 September. Web. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/55-years-later-autobiography-malcolm-x-still-inspires-n1239797
Safiyah Cheatam, “Making a Case for W.E.B. Du Bois as a Proto-Afrofuturist.” The Drinking Gourd | Medium, 31 July. Web. https://medium.com/the-drinking-gourd/making-a-case-for-w- e-b-du-bois-as-a-proto-afrofuturist-302c60d8db8d
Aysha Khan, “Muslim women are building new worlds in science fiction and changing the confines of the genre.” The Washington Post, 17 July. Web. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ religion/muslim-women-are-building-new-worlds-in-science-fiction-and-changing-the- confines-of-the-genre/2020/07/17/ddea6a6e-c7aa-11ea-a99f-3bbdffb1af38_story.html
Catalina Sofia Dansberger Duque, “Podcast Fever.” UMBC Magazine, 9 June. Web. https://magazine.umbc.edu/podcast-fever/
Teri Henderson, “MASTERS: Safiyah Cheatam.” BmoreArt, 28 May. Web. https://bmoreart.com/2020/05/masters-safiyah-cheatam.html
Vanessa Taylor, “Degrowing the Future. Part One of The Drinking Gourd’s Afrofuturism roundtable series." The Drinking Gourd | Medium, 31 January. Web. https://medium.com/the- drinking-gourd/degrowing-the-future-3bbfc28a725
Skills
Writing; Research and Planning; Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter); Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Premiere, AfterEffects, Lightroom); Dragonframe (Animation Software); DSLR Camera (Canon, Nikon); Digital Archives; Public Speaking, Customer Service, Curriculum Building, Smithsonian TMS System, MS Office (Word, Excel)