Following the arrest of his parents at home for drug trafficking, Sam Gant was placed in foster care. This traumatic event, which he witnessed firsthand, is believed to have caused his mutism and deafness. Written off as uneducable, he was denied access to formal schooling.
From 1984, he worked at the Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development (NIAD) Center in Richmond, California, foun ded in 1982 by clinical psychologist Elias Katz and artist/educator Florence Ludins-Katz. Artists at NIAD explored different materials and means of expression—textiles, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, poetry, gardening—under the guidance of professional and volunteer artists. In his works, Gant repeatedly used letters, symbols, and numbers, imbuing them with a musical expressiveness through the quality of his lines.