Reaching New Heights

Alphabet Streets Artist Michael Farhat’s Art Mobb Gives Back to Communities

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor 

From a young age, art has played a formative role in Michael Farhat’s life—he was adopted when he was 3 years old and spoke a different language. Because of this, he learned to utilize art as a form of communication.

“I communicated through drawing,” Farhat explained, “Whatever I needed, [if] it was food, I would draw grapes … Until I learned English, I communicated through drawing pictures.”

He went on to continue exploring different mediums and avenues, carrying art with him his whole life—through present day as the main artist for Art Mobb.

Farhat attended Otis College of Art and Design, described as “Los Angeles’ first professional school of the arts.” While majoring in communication arts illustration, Farhat would call his illustration team the “Art Mobb.”

“I came up with our crew name,” he said. “It’s a mesh between my favorite group growing up, called Mobb Deep—it’s a New York rap group—and art. I just meshed the two, and it kind of stuck. Then I modeled my business model based on that name, and it has stuck to this day.”

With a passion to create and give back, Farhat formed Art Mobb in 2006, which is described as “a creative coalition of artists committed to serving the community with art.”

“Art Mobb’s work is dedicated to providing hope and opportunity to others,” according to its website.

Farhat is joined by a team of visionaries, including web and brand strategists, a videographer, photographer, and designer Fawn Arthur—Farhat’s wife.

Arthur met Farhat in 2013 when she was living downtown. She peeked into an art gallery and was greeted by the gallery owner: “Would you want to meet the artist?”

“I was like, ‘Sure, why not,’” Arthur recalled. “And the gallery owner happened to be [Farhat’s] dad. His dad kind of introduced us and we became friends. I lived on the same block as the art gallery … and I just started hanging out with them, and we blossomed a friendship.”

The two also formed a professional relationship. Arthur worked in the fashion industry, styling rappers, R&B artists and athletes at the time. She suggested the two work together to combine Farhat’s artistic abilities and Arthur’s connections.

“One of the first people we [worked together] with was Chris Brown,” Arthur said. “That was our first big collaboration … I didn’t collab with [Farhat] in the art, but I collaborated as far as setting up meeting Chris and surprising him at a music video.”

Farhat presented Brown with a custom, hyper-realistic spray painting on plexiglass—showcasing Farhat’s preferred medium.

“I kind of stumbled upon it,” Farhat said about plexiglass artwork. “I’ve been addicted to how it’s received when I’m done with a painting. A lot of the reactions that I really am intrigued by are people that I grew up watching, like my NBA heroes. Growing up and watching them, I am in awe of their athleticism and talent, and to have them in awe of whatever transpires through my artwork is an amazing feeling.”

Farhat has since worked with a long list of athletes, musicians and celebrities, including Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George.

“One that really sticks with me because of his character [is] … Paul George,” Farhat said. “It’s kind of full circle. My wife was eating at Nobu one day and she wanted to tell him about my work, but her phone was dead and his phone was dead. So throughout the night, she kept reminding him … He leaves Nobu, and a couple of days later, he hired us for a huge NBA job. We ended up painting eight different basketball courts just off that interaction with him at Nobu.

“He got us so inspired by doing the courts that we went back to my hometown and fundraised … and donated our time,” Arthur added. “We upgraded some basketball courts in the city and beautified the community.”

Farhat and Arthur said they have enjoyed taking on community projects, which plays a large role in Art Mobb’s mission.

As the couple spoke with the Palisadian-Post, they were gearing up to work on a school in Seattle—marking Art Mobb’s first landmark project outside of California.

“We’ve done big projects … We’ve gone out to different states and done presentations, and taught at underprivileged schools, but this is our first on-the-map big project,” Arthur said. “We’re doing the entire athletic facility, and it’s a really big build for this community, this school. We’re excited … The give-back is the most important thing that we like to do.”

In addition to contributions to communities, both local and afar, Art Mobb recently collaborated with Nike in celebration of the 40th anniversary of its Air Force 1 sneaker. In honor of the sneaker’s legacy, Nike selected a number of artists and changemakers across New York, Houston Chicago, Los Angeles and beyond to acknowledge and feature as part of its Join Forces Pack.

“Nike … selected Art Mobb and Michael Farhat, family and community as embodying the spray paint and artistic culture surrounding basketball and the city of Los Angeles,” according to a press release.

A video campaign was created by Nike and displayed across an electronic billboard at Crypto.com Arena that featured Farhat, Arthur and the LA edition of the Join Forces Pack.

“Just having any kind of affiliation with Nike is a dream come true,” Farhat said of the experience, “especially because growing up in the Palisades, I played basketball at the Rec Center and thought for sure that I was going to make it to the NBA. You know, little kid dreams.

“So the second best thing … is still being involved in the NBA world and having a shoe attached to my brand. That was a big moment for us, and it was a cool experience to get a full Nike photoshoot and campaign.”

As for the future, Farhat and Arthur said they hope to continue taking Art Mobb to new heights: continuing to collaborate with athletes, organizing a charity show and—hopefully—bringing more art to the Palisades.

“We definitely want to do something in the Palisades,” Farhat said. “We can explore community beautification … I think we should do the park, paint it or get some art going.”