Ya'qub Shabazz
Visiting Lecturer, Art; Art Experience Director
Ya'qub Shabazz
Visiting Lecturer, Art; Art Experience Director
Bio
Ya’qub Shabazz is a visual artist, educator, and arts leader whose work explores migration, memory, identity, spirituality, and the ways personal and collective histories are carried across generations. His studio practice spans painting, printmaking, collage, and mixed media and is grounded in Black American visual traditions, cultural memory, and the relationship between lived experience and image-making.
At Rochester Institute of Technology, his work centers on interdisciplinary arts education, student development, and strengthening connections between the university and the broader arts community. Through ArtEx, he develops programming that expands access to studio practices, mentorship, professional development, and creative community.
Shabazz earned his MFA from RIT and has taught and facilitated arts programming in university, community, and correctional settings. Drawing from his background in both visual art and sociology, his work considers how art, education, institutions, and community intersect. He is particularly interested in the studio as a site of cultural production, personal transformation, and civic connection.
Based in Rochester, New York, Shabazz maintains an active studio practice while developing programs and partnerships that expand access, opportunity, and meaningful participation in the arts.