Julius DeWitt Hannah
“Painting came late for me. I was
intimidated by it.”
By Joe Miller
Photographed by Angelo
Merendino
It hasn’t taken long for Hannah
to find an audience. His pieces have
found their way to local art fairs, a
solo exhibit at a Larchmere Boulevard
gallery, and the walls of Shaker
Heights homes.
“The vibrance of the colors just
jumps off whatever medium he uses,”
says local designer Denise Dixon,
owner of Farrow & Wren Interiors.
Dixon has been a fan since she
invited Hannah to join a Shaker Arts
Council show highlighting Moreland
artists in 2016. One of Hannah’s
paintings appeared on the show’s
invitation; the painting now hangs in
Dixon’s dining room, the first of six
she has purchased from Hannah. She
has recommended Hannah’s work to
several of her clients.
“From his portraits to his
contemporary art, there’s a depth and
energy to it that draws you,” she says.
Growing up in the Lomond
neighborhood, Hannah honed his
talent with encouragement from
family – his Uncle Clifford Collins
would bring him comic books and
challenge the young boy to draw
what he saw – and art teachers such
as Lomond Elementary mainstay Jill
(Wisneski) Schumacher, who retired
in 2011. “I would gravitate to the
drawing. She just noticed and pushed
me,” Hannah says.
Later, the High School’s art
department “was a heavy influence
on me,” says Hannah. Teachers, such
as former gallery owner Malcolm
Brown, and talented classmates
showed him the art world was within
his reach. “Shaker High nurtured that
art environment,” he says. “Our art
program was amazing.”
After studying graphic design
in college, Hannah spent a decade
designing flyers and T-shirts
promoting Cleveland hip-hop groups.
When that dried up, he put his art
career on hold as he focused on a
whole new life as a husband and
father. Hannah’s wife Amy is a fourthgrade
teacher at Fernway Elementary
where their daughter Evelyn is a
second grader; son Elliott is a sixth
grader at Woodbury Elementary.
Still, art was always on his mind.
Something eventually clicked for
Hannah when a close friend started
painting. “I finally said, ‘If he can do
that, then I’m wasting a lot of time not
doing it.’”
Hannah studied YouTube videos
about stretching canvases. He studied
the styles of his idols such as Jean-
Michel Basquiat and Pablo Picasso.
And he experimented with whatever
materials he had around his house,
from wooden crates to cardboard
boxes.
At first he painted abstracts.
Hannah’s goal was to “elicit emotions
or feelings” from his audience
“without guiding them.”
“Once I became comfortable with
that, my illustrator side came out,”
he says. Hannah started adding lines
to his works. “They guide our eyes
where to go and break up the chaos
of color.”
Hannah never thought he’d go
beyond abstracts, but the COVID
shutdown has pushed him in new
directions. Some of his newer works
include pastel figures inspired by old
sketches and take on themes such as
people’s addiction to social media.
“During COVID, I’ve been trying
to say a lot of things that I couldn’t
say with an abstract piece,” he says.
“It was something I said I’d stay away
from, but sometimes art reflects the
times.”
Samples of his work can be seen at
Jdarts.com
/Jdarts.com