Meet Our New Board Member – Hiren Prabhakar

We are thrilled to welcome Hiren Prabhakar to our Executive Board. With extensive experience in the healthcare industry, in board service, and advocacy for individuals with disabilities, Hiren will be a great addition to our community.

In our on-going conversation series, studio artists interview new board members to introduce them to our community. Hiren and studio artist Ted Gram-Boarini met on zoom earlier this summer to talk about board service, art, and much more.

TED: How did you find Arts of Life and why are you interested?

 

HIREN: I came across Arts of Life on LinkedIn. I remember it reminded me of a very similar organization I was involved with many years ago back in Canada and I felt a deep connection to Arts of Life because of its vision, mission and values. And I felt this is an organization that I could learn from and contribute to as well so that’s when I reached out

 

TED: What kind of contributions can you make?

 

HIREN: That’s a very good question. I feel contributions are a two way street. In the sense that I learn as much as I contribute. So I hope to be able to learn from Arts of Life, and then contribute from that learning. That being said, like I mentioned, I was previously a volunteer with a similar organization in Canada, and I really hope to be able to bring that experience to this community..

 

TED: Have you worked with people with disabilities before?

 

HIREN: Yes, I have. I was a volunteer with an organization – it was known as a Citizen Advocacy back then, now it’s called Able2. That experience was a turning point in both my personal as well as my professional life. The experience I had was so rewarding that I decided that I wanted to switch fields in my career and move into healthcare.

 

TED: What work have you done specifically? 

 

HIREN: I was a volunteer advocate and in my particular role there was helping integrate individuals with disabilities into the community. It taught me how important the role of community, the role of social support systems were to the development of any individual. I was matched with an individual with a disability, and we would meet up every couple of weeks and go for a cup of coffee or we would go to see a movie or we would just hang out. It felt very rewarding for both of us. I learned about their hopes and dreams and their challenges as well. Does that help answer the question, Ted?

 

TED: Yes. Next question. What are you passionate about?

 

HIREN: That’s a tough question. I would say I’m definitely passionate about connecting – so bridging ideas, bridging people, bridging communities, bridging divisions so to speak. Where there’s a gap between people, between ideas, between thoughts, to bridge and connect those. Another huge passion of mine is growing, learning from others, learning from other ideas. Just learning in general. And on top of that, I love photography – landscape and wildlife photography. I wouldn’t say it’s as big of a passion as some of the other things I’ve mentioned, but it’s something that keeps me sane every now and then.

 

TED: I also took photography in high school. The weird thing was I took a picture when I was not intending to. It sure was funny to me because that was the angle I could see from

 

HIREN: It’s interesting that you mentioned angle because photography is about perspective. And so it’s interesting how things may look from different perspectives and angles.

 

TED: Yes. What kind of art do you like?

 

HIREN: I am fairly open to most types of art. Obviously I’m a bit lenient towards photography in general, because I love photography, but I feel like art in general teaches us a lot about the world around us and to better ourselves. We take from art what we see in ourselves. There’s so much power in art, regardless of the form. 

 

TED: I am definitely involved in various forms and mediums of art on the music side and on the art side as well. I am particularly interested in comic books because as a kid I used to love comic books. Even now I read them once in a while. I am actually working on a book. I was with my mom but unfortunately she passed away before it was finished. So i’m looking for someone to help me. 

 

HIREN: Sorry to hear that Ted,

 

TED: That means a lot to me. Any new ideas that you can bring to the table to help us grow?

 

HIREN: I do have a couple ideas. However, currently I am in a learning mode. I’m learning as much as I can from everyone including you. I feel a lot of times big ideas come from many small ideas. Some of the best big ideas come from collaborating. I may have a small idea and Ted you may have a small idea and then all those small ideas come together. And then it becomes this amazing, wonderful big idea. So at this point I’m going to learn more. Then at some point I hope many of our small ideas together can then contribute towards a bigger idea.

 

TED: Thank you. We can partner up. 

 

HIREN: Yes, I think we can all partner up to have a bigger idea. I think there’s so much power in that.

 

TED: Yeah. I am a great brainstormer. Are you good at being a team player?

 

HIREN: I hope so. I hope so. I’ve tried to be my team player as much as I can and I think the very basis of friendships and relationships is about being a team player.

 

TED: Yes, I do agree with that. What things do you find easy and what do you find hard?

 

HIREN: There are lots of things I find hard. Trying to make sense of abstract and vague things – that comes easy to me. So when a situation is complex, trying to make sense out of that is something that I think comes easy to me. Also, reaching out to people, connecting with people. I wouldn’t say that’s easy, but I enjoy that a lot. Okay. Then, things I find hard. Boy, this is a long list. The first thing would be if things get very technical, very, you know, nitty gritty and to jump into those technical details. That doesn’t come easy to me. Even on the IT side of things, the computer side of things. If it’s too technical, it becomes challenging to get my mind engaged. And that is ironic because I went to school to learn computer science.

 

TED: That’s a bit ironic. My mom hates computers so my dad tried to teach her computers.

 

HIREN: That’s very nice. Did she get better with computers?

 

TED: No. Do you have any questions for me?

 

HIREN: Yes I do. I was just about to suggest if I could jump in and ask a couple questions myself. Tell me about your experience with the Arts of Life. How long have you been there?

 

TED: I’ve been with Arts of Life for eight or nine years.

 

HIREN: So you know a lot. There is definitely a lot that I will be able to learn from you, So tell me a bit about your latest work – you said you do abstract as well as comic books. 

 

TED: I was doing a painting which was basically a three part painting, like a fresh take of faith.

And I actually got finished with it, so this week so I’m starting a new one.

 

HIREN: I saw online you use movies and pop culture as inspiration often.

 

TED: Movies and music. Pop culture is my inspiration.

 

HIREN: I can see that based on the titles of the pieces.

 

TED: If you have any interest in doing pop culture or anything like that, please let me know.

HIREN: I definitely will let you know, Ted. I definitely think you are a very persuasive person. I so appreciate you opening yourself up to new people. I learned so much about Arts of Life and  you, Ted. Great meeting you.