Over the River and Through the Hills, a mural by Adam Sultan radiates joy, playfulness, and emotional complexity through its bold patterns and vibrant colors. Sultan approaches painting as a form of play, using color, rhythm, and structure to invite viewers into a visually rich and ever-evolving experience. Reflecting his belief that color and imagination shouldn’t be confined to childhood, the mural draws viewers in with spontaneous yet balanced compositions that suggest horizons, rivers, or even fairytales, depending on one’s perspective. It is a work designed not just to be seen, but to be returned to.

“I don’t know why the most colorful things are relegated to children. Maybe we grow up to be too serious, but I love to play with color, and play itself is the best way to explore something. When I’m composing these images, I’m playing with color, horizon lines, rhythm and contrasts that pull the viewer in. And the longer one looks, the more there is to see. The same person’s experience can vary across time. I enjoy creating work that can surprise people on their way somewhere, brightening their day and giving them something to return to with a new perspective, whether these lines are experienced as horizons or rivers, fairytales, or simply shapes tying a pattern together. I hope you look again, the journey might feel different next time.”

Adam Sultan is a New York-based abstract artist whose work draws inspiration from post-war Abstract Expressionism. Sultan holds a BA from Boston University and a MFA from Rutgers University. The artist utilizes bold patterns and vibrant colors in his paintings to evoke humor, joy, and imagination. His dynamic compositions balance spontaneity with structure helping the artwork remain visually engaging while creating thought-provoking questions on emotions. Sultan’s work has been exhibited in galleries and collections, gaining recognition for its playful yet sophisticated approach to abstraction and contemporary expression.

When did you become an artist and how did you start?
Adam Sultan: Every child is an artist, and most people forget as they grow up rather than the other way around. Art is about play, about finding new questions to old answers, about finding joy and wonder in unexpected places. No child needs to be taught these things. The question is what leads certain people to protect the instinct, while others let it slip away?

What motivates you to create? How do you find inspiration?
AS: I want to try and understand and celebrate the world. Living your life, if you’re open and paying attention, you’ll bump up against enough things that you will want to understand, and to celebrate.

Many children who come through our doors experience anxiety, self-doubt, or feeling “different.” Have you ever experienced anxiety, self-doubt, or creative blocks in your own journey? How did you cope or move through it?
AS: Anxiety, self-doubt, creative blocks are not always negative things to avoid or get past. Every feeling has a positive side and a negative side. For example, I use “anxiety” to motivate
me to follow through with things. “Self-doubt” is how I hold my work and myself to a standard that I believe in. If you label every emotion as a negative one, you are missing an opportunity.

When you think about your art hanging in a child mental health setting, how do you hope it makes kids and families feel when they encounter it?
AS: I hope that my work might bring comfort and joy to children that walk through CMI, and remind their families who may also be struggling what this kind of openness and curiosity felt
like in themselves, when they were children.

How did art help you find your own voice, identity, or sense of belonging?
AS: Art allows me to push, stretch, nurture, and fully pursue an idea or a material in a safe environment where anything can happen and no one will get hurt. I am very grateful for it.
Here at CMI, we believe mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness, how do you maintain yours?
AS: I believe physical and mental health are the same thing experienced differently. To stay sharp, I believe in keeping everything in moderation. Usually I try to read, exercise, work
hard, spend time outdoors, spend time with family and friends, eat healthy food, go to bed early. But sometimes I need to relax and do nothing. Sometimes, your soul will want you to stay up late watching a movie or reading baseball stats, sometimes it wants you to eat ice cream and pizza, sometimes it needs to be alone to really hear everything. The trick is listening to what you need and not being too stubborn when you know things need a change

In January 2024, the Child Mind Institute moved its headquarters to a new 82,000-square-foot space in Midtown Manhattan. From the beginning, our new home was envisioned not only as a place for clinical care and research, but as a space that feels comforting, human, and inviting for children, teens, and their families. In order to support this vision, CMI established a comprehensive Art Program to foster meaningful engagement between our patients and the artwork around them. Through a thoughtfully curated permanent collection and integrated installations, the program helps create an environment that is stimulating, flexible, and collaborative —a space where we will help tens of thousands of children from 49 states, Washington, DC, and 45 nations over the coming decades and inspire current and future scientists to change the child mental health field as we know it. We hope that the digital archive will give patients and their families further opportunity to explore the collection and learn more about the talented artists that have contributed to our space.