The Gainesville Cultural Advisory Board and the Gainesville Art in Public Places Trust have selected AIM artist practitioner Sarah Hinds as the recipient of the 2024 Gainesville Art in Public Places Trust Public Art Award AND the 2024 Gainesville Individual Arts Award!
Sarah is a multi-talented artist, teacher, and community builder with a demonstrated history in championing the arts in every community she touches.
From November 2023 through May 2024, Sarah hosted over 100 local workshops in public schools, parks, and community centers that offered Gainesville residents of all ages and abilities a chance to create a heart-shaped mosaic tile.
During the workshops, participants expressed not only excitement about leaving their mark on Gainesville but a deep sense of connection with one another. Many felt that through creating art together, their spirits were lifted, and they were reminded of the resilient beauty of community. The hearts were later added to the HeART Wall, a 200-foot-long mosaic mural installed near Depot Park to create a beautiful symbol of the individual and collective that makes Gainesville unique. Sarah has truly poured her heart into this project, and it shows in the vibrant, lasting symbol of unity and creativity that now stands at Depot Park.
Sarah is also an accomplished visual artist and glass blower whose decades of artmaking led her to serve Gainesville as an instructor of Glassblowing, Flamework, and Glass Sculpture at Santa Fe College from 2001 to 2012; an art teacher at Gainesville’s Expressions Learning Academy from 2004 to 2015; and as a summer camp founder, teacher, and leader for Gainesville youth. I share Sarah’s resume of artmaking and facilitation because it showcases her desire to foster creative expression in the youth of Gainesville and beyond.
Sarah currently serves as a visual artist for the UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine program, where she offers creative arts engagements to patients of all ages for free, no matter their skill level. This kind of work humanizes a patient’s hospital experience by providing them with a sense of identity outside of their diagnosis.
During her time as an Arts in Medicine visual artist, Sarah has led a weekly artmaking workshop for pediatric patients at the UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, providing them an opportunity to foster connections with other pediatric patients as they engage in the creative arts. For this workshop, Sarah also supervises up to four University of Florida student volunteers each semester, offering them valuable hands-on experience in the field of arts in healthcare.
Sarah’s influence isn’t just measured by the number of students she’s taught or the number of workshops she’s led. It’s felt in the creative spark she ignites in others, leaving lasting impressions on every person she works with.
Sarah was celebrated at a special ceremony on Thursday, March 27th, 2025, at the Historic Thomas Center where she received both awards.