Instead of dreaming of a “Euro Summer,” artist Sarah Hanna decided to transport herself there.
Encapsulating the feel of the Italian sun beating down, the sweet sips of rosé, and the crispiness of a baguette alongside coastal views, Hanna created her latest gallery, “The Amalfi Collection.”
“Everyone has a sensory memory. It’s why you buy souvenirs. When you’re away, it’s not because you come home and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty.’ It’s because you touch it and remember what it felt like to be there,” Hanna said.
Her work debuted at Meredith Sands Designs on July 18 and was a part of a month-long residency, including community events.
Initially inspired by hospitality icons like Martha Stewart and Julia Childs, Hanna found in her research that all of their signature cocktails involved a lemon garnish. Her train of thought started moving and she said she saw lemons as an avenue to capture the dazzling beauty of the Amalfi Coast.
“Art is emotive. For me, it was, ‘What does it feel like to be whisked away?’” Hanna said. “It’s a painting of a lemon branch, but what does it feel like to sit under a lemon tree with a something next to you and your toes in the sand, or a good book? None of those things are in the painting. But that’s what it feels like.”
Hanna grew up in Jamaica with her mother, who is an artist as well, and her father, who is a chef. Influenced by their creative paths along with her surroundings, she said her background has left a lasting impact on her.
“No matter where you were, it shows up in whatever expression of yourself there is, whether that’s sports or art,” Hanna said. “I lean towards calm, blues, and greens, and I’m positive that that has to do with growing up on an island that has mountains.”
She said her family left Jamaica when she was six and moved to Central Florida, where she would later attend Lake Highland Preparatory School, the same school Meredith Sand attended.
Being a few years apart, Hanna said they were familiar with each other in school but became closer as adults. Hannna said Sand has been a supportive figure not only in the collection for her gallery, but in all of her artistic efforts.
“You know what it’s like to have someone who motivates you? It’s magic,” Hanna said. “Her leadership as a gallery owner, I’ve been in the arts for 25 years. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
As part of “The Amalfi Collection,” Hanna was also able to collaborate with one of her favorite artists, a six-year-old boy named Jude, who has limb differences.
The two of them began working together four years ago as a part of Hanna’s Art in Residence program, where Hanna goes into families’ homes to teach them a semester of art in a day. From then on, Hanna and Jude became close and continued to work together on future projects.
“He’s magic,” Hanna said. “He’s everything good and this big, wide world.”
Hanna said all resident artists at Sand’s gallery must pick a worthy organization with ties to Central Florida to benefit from their residency. She chose Footprints of the Son, an organization started by Jude’s mother, offering assistance to families in Haiti who have children with disabilities.
Now living in Maryland and coming back to Central Florida to display her art, Hanna said she feels gratitude for the way the community has embraced her over the years, from taking part in her Art in Residence program to visiting her work in the gallery to instilling belief in her artistic dreams.
“I just feel an enormous sense of gratitude for this community embracing me and being generous with me. And now I can be generous back,” Hanna said. “It’s a river that flows in two directions, and I think that Central Florida is unique in that way. It is not just a take sort of arts community. It is a give and take. And everyone who is part of that community does both.”