Finding Home: Charity Hamidullah’s Arts Journey in Atlanta
08/05/2025
BY BRIAN CARR
If you happen to walk past the windows of a sunlit studio on Peachtree Street and catch a glimpse of vibrant canvases transforming into art … stop and enjoy the moment. You’re looking into the creative, colorful world that Midtown artist-in-residence Charity Hamidullah is building.
The themes woven into her mixed-media arts practice examine memory, healing, self-discovery and reinvention. And the timeline of her journey to become an artist includes many lived experiences that have shaped her identity, and grounded her in gratitude and resilience.
We recently sat down with Charity to talk about her Atlanta story, her arts journey, and her upcoming local exhibition. Read more.
In Charity Hamidullah’s Midtown Atlanta studio, every brushstroke, textile swatch, or reimagined can of spraypaint carries a message about memory and reclamation.
“I want to tell stories that not only reflect my personal identity but also open space for others to embrace their own,” she said. “Every time I make a piece of art, I’m building something new.”
Early Beginnings in Ink
Charity’s early life in Rochester, New York, was steeped in creativity. Her mother doodled in journals. Her father wrote with flair. Her grandfather documented family life with photos and videos.
“I think I was just absorbing stories all the time,” she said. “I was always drawing, always watching.”
Charity’s high school art teacher encouraged her to pursue a career in art. She started out as a tattoo artist at the age of 15 and honed her craft professionally. It was tattooing that ultimately brought her to Atlanta. She saw the mothers of several of her childhood friends sporting Freaknik t-shirts, and it sparked her curiosity about Atlanta. After discovering online the iconic local tattoo studio City of Ink, she made a bold move.
“I was watching their videos, following them, messaging them like, ‘I’m moving to Atlanta,’” she said. “I don’t think they believed me at first.”
But within a few months, Charity got her seat at City of Ink and never looked back. And over many years in Atlanta, her arts journey has moved beyond the tattoo studio. She’s expanded her practice into murals, installations, and gallery work, choosing each medium intentionally like a carpenter selecting the right tool.
Upcoming Exhibition Invites People to Make Themselves at Home
Charity’s upcoming solo exhibition, Healing House, opens August 8 at Old Rabbit Art Gallery and explores the concept of the body as home.
“There were times when I didn’t have a home,” she said. “I had to realize that I was my home. That my body … myself … was the place I could always come back to.”
The exhibition will feature everything from plaster to wood to rattan, materials that, to her, hold memories. She’s even using remnants of her old spraypaint cans from mural projects, repurposing the tools of her past works to shape the next direction her arts journey will take. Charity believes this show will demonstrate her range as an artist and how she can create a cohesive exhibition.
“When people walk into the space,” she said, “I want them to instantly feel like they walked into a piece of their home. I want it to be healing for many people.”
Finding Family In Midtown Alliance’s Heart of The Arts Program
Gratitude and resilience are foundational in both Charity’s personality and her practice.
“I came here as a tattoo artist with no idea this would be possible,” she said. “A studio in Midtown? Across from Emory? I don’t take that for granted. I’m so grateful I didn’t give up.”
That spirit extends to the fellowship she’s creating with the other artists-in-residence in Midtown Alliance’s Heart of the Arts program.
“We’re like a big, happy family,” she said. “We feed off each other. I’ll see my studio mate painting and think, ‘Whoa, I want to try something new, too.’ The connection we all feel has been very beautiful.”
Keep Creating, Keep Connecting
The artist residency program is more than just a physical space to create art; it’s a support system. Monthly gatherings, group texts, and intentional collaboration from Midtown Alliance have fostered a kind of creative energy that spills into the sidewalks, on gallery walls, and through conversations that begin with enthusiastic passersby at her studio door.
Charity’s vision for the future is simple and profound: keep creating, keep connecting. “Every moment, every conversation, every connection—it’s all pivotal to the next chapter,” she says. “I want my work to inspire people to find home in themselves, to see that they matter.”
Don’t miss Charity’s solo exhibition, Healing House, opening August 8, 2025, at Old Rabbit Art Gallery in Castleberry Hill. The show runs through the second Friday in September and promises to be a powerful reflection on identity, memory, and the meaning of home.
Find Charity on Instagram: @charitymadeit