Women To Watch 10.12.25 - Flipbook - Page 21
Tamara Payne
52, multimedia artist,
activist and full-time professor
Tamara Payne believes she was divinely placed into her role
as a community leader, activist, professor at Baltimore City
Community College and interdisciplinary artist.
“It wasn’t by chance that I’m an artist. It’s not by chance
that I love to travel. It’s not by chance that I do a lot of mission
work, because that’s what I grew up doing in the streets of
Baltimore,” Payne said.
Her most recent work, “Dear Black Girl,” at Creatively Black
Baltimore, was created to explore the lived experiences of
Black and brown women through multimedia projects. The
piece is rooted in biblical symbolism and features film, textiles
and tapestry.
“I’m definitely a community-centered person,” Payne said.
“I want my work to be witnessed for all people to be able to
learn, grow and foster healthy relationships in community
with one another.”
Through her work, which she dedicated to her late mother,
Payne aims to create spaces where Black women and young
girls come together, perform and have community conversations.
“My work always begins with myself, how I’m evolving
and where I am,” she said. “That’s really important to me ... to
witness my own growth and take time to process where I am
and who I’m becoming.”
— Shaela Foster
KAREN JACKSON/FREELANCE
Rebecca Winslow
44, founder and CEO, Queer City Sports
Rebecca Winslow founded Queer City Sports after she saw queer bars and
safe spaces around her close down in the 2010s. After living in Baltimore since
2001 and coming out, Winslow said she viewed the city as her home and felt
the need to help.
Seeing those LGBTQ+ safe spaces disappear, one after another, gave her an
idea for a new, nonalcohol-centered way for the queer community to connect.
She launched Queer City Sports in 2018, hosting friendly, team-based
sessions of basketball, football, volleyball, kickball and more around the city
for the LGBTQ+ community to socialize and gather in a judgment-free environment.
“It started as a passion project and a way to bring my local queer community
together,” said Winslow, who also works in real estate. “Sports is a passion of
mine. … It was the way that I connected with people.”
Queer City Sports has since expanded to Tacoma and Seattle in Washington. The District of Columbia and Portland, Oregon, are next on the list,
Winslow said.
“Everyone is so supportive of each other but we tell everybody, especially
our veteran players, to be aggressively friendly,” Winslow said. “We see who
needs help getting into the mix and we support them. We’re really, really
intentional in that.”
— Chevall Pryce
HALDAN KIRSCH/FREELANCE
WOMEN TO WATCH | 2025 | 21
