There’s an abundance of self proclaimed creatives out there, but only a handful are actually worthy of such a title. Meet Baltimore native, Ryan Antar, one of the few genuine creatives with an admirable artistic caliber. Antar dabbles in everything from photography, graphics, design and more, ultimately reckoning him as a jack of all trades. He’s ambitious and all around, traits that are sure to undoubtedly launch him into success.
Explore Antar’s works, ARVADA, and more below.

“I believe if you do something, that thing that you do has to have life and purpose behind it. It has to come to life. People need to genuinely believe in it, get inspired by it. If people aren’t inspired by me then I have failed, and that’s what I stand by.”
Who is Ryan Antar and what is it that you do?
I’m a freshman at the University of Maryland – College Park. I’m currently a Cellular Biology and Genetics major on the pre-med track with a minor in Global Poverty. I’m also the founder of Arvada Creatives & Co. I do a lot to be honest, from trying to get medical internships to continually doing photo shoots and designing product. I’m just trying to do my best and live a fulfilling life.
“The people around me heavily inspire me. I’m surrounded by so many like-minded, talented, and genuine people, it makes me happy.”
Tell us a little about Arvada and the team.
Arvada is a creative company that focuses on a wide variety of things, but mainly concerned with empowering people to pursue whatever creative expression they may have. From design and product to music and fashion, I feel like we can do anything. The team is a bunch of my homies. We chill in houses all day making music, having long conversations, and playing 2k. We very often get into situations that are either extremely hilarious or dangerous, mostly both.

How was Arvada started?
I’m originally from Arvada, Colorado and to be honest that name continually ran through my mind all throughout my life. In middle school, I had this blog where I would post my photography on there and also write reviews about music. It was something I did for myself and no one else, my goal wasn’t to have it public or anything. Eventually, I closed that blog up and just lived my middle school life and dabbling in production a bit. I wasn’t too bad at producing either, but I really don’t think I could continually grow with it. However, in the future I wouldn’t mind doing some production here and there. My freshman year of high school, I made a clothing brand that I ended up making one shirt, and I was the only person that had it. No one bought anything and I honestly quit. When I was younger I struggled with expressing myself and I would be shy when it came to anything creative. Back then, this creative stuff just wasn’t “cool” to people, and people used to pay me no mind whatsoever. Anyways, Arvada was put on hold for four years since that time and I would do things secretly, mainly keeping ideas in my head. It was until my senior year of high school where I really started to feel comfortable with myself and the people around me. I get a lot of love from my high school to be honest and it’s a blessing, but that comes with lots of unneeded drama. Me and my friends always did photoshoots and had ideas for the future and we called this “Arvada”. I feel like being so young, it’s really difficult to have a clear-cut purpose behind something when it’s so natural to you. I worked at Chipotle for a few months and racked up some money, then last summer I randomly went on Twitter and told everyone about my first collection release and we sold out in like two weeks, which to me was amazing. I feel like Arvada has always been in my head but it had to take months and years of growing and learning to finally be able to come out publicly with my ideas.
Did you have a vision for Arvada when you started it? Has it changed?
Of course. Without an organized plan of attack or precise execution, you have nothing. I think it’s very important to be able to speak your words into existence and I feel as though I’ve done that each time. As much as I believe in a specific “vision”, I also believe it’s important to acknowledge the fact that we don’t know everything and that there’s no way to predict the future. That helps me appreciate every glimpse of success. I’ve kept enough room for mistake and learning with Arvada, I value my failures very heavily and they weigh a lot on me. It makes me better, to really feel that pressure. My vision for Arvada has not changed, everything around me has for sure, from moving away to college to losing touch with very close friends and lots more. It takes a huge toll on me, but I never let it affect my passion. I have lots in store for Arvada that no one knows about or could predict, I just really feel like I can apply it to many industries and change the world eventually once I get a few degrees and build relationships. Those that know me know about my very grand imagination and refusal for dismissal from others. I don’t take “no” for an answer, ever.
I don’t think it was ever a single source, it seems to be an accumulation of events in my life. People coming in and out of my life, the highs and lows, and the environment around me at the time I create something. I’ve been through lots in my life that I can look back on and remind myself that I deserve this blessing of being able to inspire others and be in a position to really make a difference. I’m influenced by lots of things and I can find inspiration in literally anything I see, hear, or feel, whatever it is I can find a way to manipulate it and get inspiration. I’m usually influenced by music, from Kanye to whatever I can find through SoundCloud… yeah, the same old thing every creative says, but I also am really influenced by travelling and like trips to IKEA. I think influences from experiences are much more meaningful and lead to better results. As far as trying new things and getting involved in more, I do attribute a lot of that influence from my girlfriend. She truly pushes me to keep going with whatever I’m doing, even if I don’t see it as I should. She shows me perspectives to things that I could never have thought of. I really like to stay reserved at times but she tells me I can do anything, and that means the world to me. The people around me heavily inspire me. I’m surrounded by so many like-minded, talented, and genuine people, it makes me happy.

“I have more challenges ahead of me I know for a fact and I’m ready to take those on. I’m very excited to see how things play out to be honest.”


“I have more challenges ahead of me I know for a fact and I’m ready to take those on. I’m very excited to see how things play out to be honest.”
Check out one of Ryan’s latest release –
R.E.M. Magazine by Ryan Antar & Mirr Woods