Underserved students are given the opportunity to explore their creativity at the UMB Community Engagement Center through a partnership with the R.I.S.E Arts Center of Baltimore.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Office of Community and Civic Engagement (OCCE) hosted a showcase in December featuring a class of up-and-coming young artists from our West Baltimore community, who presented pieces they had been working on since October. Colorful, stylized portraits lined the community room at the UMB Community Engagement Center (CEC), each given pride of place on its own stand. Tables faced the stage in anticipation of a multimedia performance consisting of several plays and a fashion show.
A young boy named Kaleb Jefferson walked onto the stage with a script in his hands and a grin on his face. He read the opening lines to the play he had written himself:
"Welcome to the magic forest, a forest where magic happens!"
Kaleb is one of the many Baltimore youths who participate in the R.I.S.E Legacy Arts Program, another place where magic happens. Crafted specifically for neurodivergent and underserved Black and Brown youth ages 11 to 21, the program runs quarterly. Each session lasts 10 weeks, with students meeting each week for facilitated instruction by professional teaching artists. Costume and fashion design, playwriting, product innovation, digital arts, and fine arts are just some of the creative fields available for exploration. With so many options, it's no surprise that many participants return for multiple sessions.
The strong sense of community the program fosters may also help explain the high number of repeat participants. Students are given the opportunity to freely express themselves, form lasting friendships with their peers, and find mentors who share their interests and life experiences. This allows students to bloom socially as well as creatively: The program focuses just as much on identity development and confidence-building as it does on exploring the arts.
“The Legacy Arts Program is about more than just creating art,” says Kammeran T. Giggers, executive director and founder of the R.I.S.E Arts Center of Baltimore. “It’s about creating space. Space for young people to be seen, heard, and celebrated for who they are. Through this work, we’re not only nurturing creativity, but also building confidence, community, and pathways for youth to imagine what’s possible for their futures.”
"I feel that I'm at peace and connecting with myself, sharing what I love to create to the world," said Malaika Bradley, a student of the fashion design cohort. It's easy to see what she means in the effortless way she walks across the stage at the showcase, making sure everyone in attendance can see the personalized embroidery on her bag.
For UMB, hosting the R.I.S.E Legacy Arts Program at the CEC is another way to honor its commitment to the West Baltimore community. The CEC is intended as an easy-to-find entry point to connect community members with community-facing resources from UMB, nonprofit partners, and the other members of the neighborhood. The OCCE furthers this work by building authentic, mutually beneficial partnerships with organizations like R.I.S.E that invest in the strengths, creativity, and potential of Baltimore’s young people.
UMB students also lend their time as volunteers with the program, like Sereita McKinley, who is currently pursuing her master’s degree in public health. McKinley says that working with R.I.S.E is something that she looks forward to every week. It keeps her motivated to study, knowing that she might contribute to programs like it once she graduates. She also says that working with the mixed-media cohort this session has taught her that “truly, anyone can draw.”
Giggers says that R.I.S.E’s partnership with the OCCE has been meaningful because “it has allowed us to expand access to high-quality arts programming in a welcoming and community-centered environment.” R.I.S.E has access to the CEC’s second-floor classrooms and Steve and Mim Dubin Makerspace, as well as the downstairs community room with its stage and audio-visual capabilities.
Last fall's initial run of the partnership between R.I.S.E and the OCCE went so well that the program expanded capacity for the next session to 40 students. With a session currently ongoing and a R.I.S.E Summer YouthWorks program at the CEC on the horizon, this feels like an auspicious start to what will hopefully be a long-lasting collaboration.
You can learn more about R.I.S.E and the programs it offers by visiting its website. To see highlights of the December 2025 Legacy Arts Program Showcase and hear more from students and parents, you can watch this video. For more information on the Dubin Makerspace programs at the CEC, contact Dionne McConkey.