Sandra “Sandi” Defranco Giannini
Former NAWA Board Member Sandra “Sandi” DeFranco Giannini, 68, died on December 3, 2022 in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. She was an award-winning impressionist painter, working in oil, pen and brush.
Sandi was a Certificate of Fine Arts recipient from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and earned an Associates Degree in Commercial Art from Northampton County Area Community College.
She actively exhibited her works in many venues in New York City, Philadelphia and surrounding areas, including NAWA’s 107th and 110th Annual Exhibits in Soho. For her achievements, NAWA conferred on Sandi the Beatrice Jackson Memorial Award for “Apple Orhard in Winter” (oil) and the Marion de Sola Mendes Memorial Award for “Dogwood in Red” (oil on paper). Her work was featured in numerous publications, including American Artist magazine in 2001. Later in her career, she spent time teaching, exhibiting, and exploring other media, such as pottery.
Sandi served as a NAWA Board Member from 1996 to 2004, and as NAWA National Exhibit chairperson in 2004. She also served as a NAWA juror of new members.
Sandi was born in Roseto, Pennsylvania, to the late Martin and Dorothy (Bradoka) DeFranco. Roseto is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, located in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area. She taught Sunday School for 11 years at Zion Lutheran Church, Shoemakersville, PA.
Marlene Grieco, an art school classmate and 43-year-friend of Sandi’s had this online tribute for her: “Sandy loved her palette of colors, with love of the impressionists. She shared her knowledge of paints and mediums with me and taught my eyes to also see the beauty of nature at sunset. Sandra was awarded the Cresson Traveling Scholarship upon graduation. … Sandra and I maintained a continuing relationship throughout all of these years.”
In addition to her parents, Sandi was predeceased by her brother, Anthony “Little Ant” DeFranco. She is survived by her husband of 34 years, Leonard A. Giannini, two sons, Philip M. Giannini (Kaitlyn) of Collegeville, PA, and Martin A. Giannini (Kaci) of Shoemakersville, PA; two sisters, Cathy Kent and Lisa Grannis, both of Arizona; and two granddaughters.
Funeral services were held for Sandi on December 8, 2022 in Pen Argyl, PA with interment at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Cemetery, Roseto, PA.
