When Hamid Ebrahimifar came to the United States at just 18-years old, he didn’t expect to find himself teaching art at a children’s hospital 41 years later.

Originally from Iran, Ebrahimifar has dedicated his entire life to his craft since he was able to walk. 

“The arts chose me,” Ebrahimifar said, “As the youngest with 4 sisters, I was always really involved in dress up games in our parent’s apartment. I was always engaged with art and painting.” 

While Ebrahimifar wanted to go to art school as a kid, his parents convinced him to continue his general education until he graduated high school.

“After I graduated from high school I came to the United States where I decided to study architecture, since that’s an easier sell for my parents,” Ebrahimifar said. 

Although he tried to stay on that path, eventually the arts sucked him back in after he took a couple of art classes.

“I took some art classes since they were required, and I got hooked again,” Ebrahimifar said, “Architecture was very lonely and cold, it wasn’t me.” 

It was then that Ebrahimifar decided to change his major to art, and since then he’s never looked back. 

Although Ebrahimfar was sure he wanted a career in art, it took him five years to finish his undergraduate degree due to his refusal to choose a medium.

“I like all the mediums: painting, sculpture, ceramics and printmaking,” Ebrahimifar said. 

When he graduated, Ebrahimifar went to University of Arkansas at Little Rock for a year for his Master’s until he decided to drop for a chance to live in Manhattan, New York, for a year. 

“It was a wonderful experience,” Ebrahimifar said. “I learned so much, just being there opened my eyes.” 

After that, Ebrahimifar came back to Arkansas to continue his work.

“I got a job teaching children sculpture, which was so fun,” Ebrahimifar said.

It was this job that jumpstarted Ebrahimifar’s current career: teaching children art. 

Ebrahimifar began his job as the resident artist at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital around 2020, when COVID began to start up. 

Ebrahimifar teaches painting classes with children, usually with music going on in the background. 

“During COVID, I found myself stuck. I was just sitting around not doing anything,” Ebrahimifar said. “The class really allowed me to channel my art a bit more since I wasn’t going to the studio.”

It is during this class that Ebrahimifar found himself immersing into abstract art, typically inspired by music.

“While I love sculpture and conceptual art, it took a lot out of me. There’s so much research involved,” Ebrahimifar said. 

Being able to immerse himself into music and create a piece of art  has allowed him to branch off in ways he’s never imagined.

“Music is a very abstract phenomenon, the gut reaction is very abstract,” Ebrahimifar said. 

Not only does the music inspire him, but Ebrahimifar also found inspiration through the children he works with. 

“Kids are so open, it really inspires me,” Ebrahimifar said. “They’re like an unwritten book, just there to observe the world around them.” 

Ebrahimifar finds his background as an Iranian-American central to his work and a part of his “foundation.”

“Those first 18 years of my life were in Iran. I’m 57-years old now, I’ve lived the majority of my life here but I still can’t shake it off,” Ebrahimifar said. “I mean my family lives there, I still know the language.” 

While Ebrahimifar hasn’t completed any art projects about the war in Iran, he’s been journaling about it since he first learned about it.

“It’s very fluid, the situation right now. Things are always happening,” Ebrahimifar said. 

Politics still heavily influence Ebrahimifar’s work.

“I’ll make posters and murals, politics are very much a part of me. I continue to keep up to date on the world since that’s part of my inspiration,” Ebrahimifar said. 

Ebrahimifar views his career as something ever-evolving and changing. 

“My life is one big line, and I don’t know where that line is going, and I’m okay with that,” Ebrahimifar said.

Ebrahimifar said he takes more of an Eastern approach to life than a Western one.

“The west likes to put people in boxes, and even though those boxes can be pretty and nice, I always end up wanting to jump out of it,” Ebrahimifar said. 

Overall, Ebrahimifar said he doesn’t know what he’d do in his life besides art.

“I am very lucky to be in art. I have the best job in the world, I get to constantly inspire people,” Ebrahimifar said.