The Tevkantz family roots run deep in the land of Vaspurakan, in historic Armenia, where for more than 600 years Tevkantz' were artists, teachers, bishops and literary intellectuals. At an early age, young Ara Tevkantz began to show his artistic abilities, at the studio of his paternal grandfather, Mihran Tevkantz. In the early 1990s, Tevkantz became one of many artists who left Armenia in pursuit of new opportunities abroad and in this case it was United States. United States presented possibilities that did not exist before, but he had to start everything from the beginning. The early years in U.S. were full of hardships, and Tevkantz had to reestablish his identity in a new environment, with a new circle of friends.