Board of Directors
Bob de la Fuente
President
Bob de la Fuente holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a JD (Doctor of Law) from the Boston University School of Law. He is a founding shareholder of Lehtinen Schultz and the head of the Firm’s Land Use, Zoning & Local Government Group. He joined the Firm after a ten-year partnership at Tew Cardenas, LLP. Mr. de la Fuente also served as Director of Florida Development for one of South Florida’s largest land owners from 2004-2006.
Mr. de la Fuente has represented a variety of clients in matters requiring administrative and public hearing approvals throughout South Florida including Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami Beach, the City of Miami and the City of Hialeah. He has extensive experience obtaining approvals for his clients’ projects and has enjoyed appearing before Zoning Boards, Planning Boards, Historic Preservation Boards, City Commissions, City Councils, and many other administrative bodies. This invaluable business experience uniquely complements the development-related legal experience Mr. de la Fuente obtained as attorney, and has yielded significant ties and contacts to Miami-Dade County, Miami, Miami Beach, and other Miami-Dade County municipalities, groups and agencies.
Mr. de la Fuente has also served as procurement counsel for private entities and on behalf of quasi-public not-for-profit entities. He has won numerous recognition awards and has served as board counsel to not-for-profit agencies. He has also served as President of the MiART Foundation for over a decade.
Sonja Bogensperger
Vice President
With extensive experience in strategic management spanning multiple industry sectors, specifically real estate, tourism and public administration, Sonja Bogensperger brings with her wide-ranging business development, marketing, and relationship building skills. A recognized leader in the industry, Ms. Bogensperger has worked alongside high-profile US and European companies. She has a pristine reputation as a trusted professional.
Her family’s hotel in Austria prepared her to develop skills in hospitality and customer service. From there, she worked for various international tourism companies before building a career in Real Estate Development in Miami, launching well over $3Billion of new construction projects and managed multiple real estate offices with more than 150 real estate agents.
As a top manager at the Miami Downtown Development Authority (DDA) she successfully led the economic development of Downtown Miami where she was part of the doubling of the residential population and the opening of Miami’s most prominent cultural organizations. Her passion for Culture and Design led her to serve as a Board Member of the City of Miami Arts & Entertainment Council as Mayor’s appointee, the Miami Center for Architecture and Design, Vice Chair of the Greater Miami Chamber’s Creative Industries Committee and is currently Vice-President of the Miami-based MiART Foundation.
Bogensperger attended the International School for Tourism Management in Salzburg, Austria, holds a Florida Real Estate Broker’s License, is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional, certified in Economic Development Marketing and Continuity Planning.
Tina Spiro
Founder & Executive Director
Tina Spiro, B.S., MFA, is a American/Jamaican artist born in New York who maintains studios in Miami and the Caribbean. Her career in art spans five decades exhibiting in museums, galleries and biennials internationally. Her art is dedicated to environmental and humanitarian issues, embracing a combination of technical and conceptual practices: classical painting, minimalist sculpture inspired by her mentor sculptor David Smith, and pop elements derived from her friend Andy Warhol.
She has also had a distinguished career as an art historian in the field of Caribbean Art, curator of large-scale exhibitions (Omniart I, II and II for the City of Miami) and educator in art history and studio art. In 2003 she established the MiART Foundation in Miami, producing large scale art events and public projects dedicated to environmental and humanitarian issues. She also serves as a Director of the Board of Management of the National Gallery of Jamaica.
Maria Johnson
Treasurer
Maria Johnson, BA, MBA, a graduate of Brown University, is Division Director in the Information Technology Department for Miami-Dade County. She has served in key financial and administrative positions in prominent private and public organizations in Miami-Dade for the past 20 years.
Her expertise in accounting, budgets, digital transformation, research and compliance among other high level management skills have qualified her to be appointed to coordinate budgets up to 2 billion dollars and supervise executive planning of large-scale capital projects with individual projects valued at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Her appointment as Treasurer to the MiART Foundation Board is in addition to her service to community organizations focusing on advocacy for women and children, leadership and sports.
Nuria Richards
Secretary
Ms. Richards, BA, MBA, was born in Mexico City were she finished her studies in Visual Arts at the National University specializing in critic and contemporary art collections. She holds a Graduate Degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art and The Center for Business and Management of the Arts at Claremont Graduate University.
Ms. Richards has developed a private practice in museum relations, estate planning for private collections, as well as leading commercial galleries in the city of Miami.
Marianne Canero
Director
Marianne Canero is founder and principal of the Alma Community, and Director of expansion of Solis Health in Miami, Palm Beach and Vero Beach. She has held various positions, including managing the family agricultural and commercial properties in Uruguay.
She holds a BS Degree in Hospitality from Cornell University, and an MBA from the University of Miami in Real Estate and International Finance. She is an environmental and health advocate, deeply involved in advancing sustainability and wellness. She has served on the Board of Directors of the MiART Foundation in Miami for over a decade.
Raymond Elman
Director
Raymond Elman is an artist, writer and editor, who in 1985 co-founded on-going Provincetown Arts magazine. Elman holds a BS and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His artworks have been widely exhibited and are included in numerous collections including permanent collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery.
Mr. Elman is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Inspicio (2015), a multi-channel arts publication platform that provides high-quality, in-depth insights into all arts disciplines, with a focus on Miami and South Florida. Inspicio is sponsored by The College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts at Florida International University.
Avra Jain
Director
As CEO of the Vagabond group, Avra Jain, a Purdue University industrial engineer graduate, has a reputation for developing projects around her favorite pursuits: art and architecture.
The recipient of three Sundance Film Awards, Ms. Jain has directed boutique projects that range from converting a warehouse into luxury loft condominiums to the remake of The Vagabond Motel on Biscayne. She is a board member of the MiMo Biscayne Association and the MiART Foundation.
As one of Miami’s most innovative real estate developers, Avra has helped revive whole neighborhoods incorporating art and design, contributing to the growth and advancement of Miami as a cultural capital.
Loretta Fabricant
Director
Loretta Fabricant is a CPA and Forensic Accountant who founded her own family-owned firm in Miami over 30 years ago.
She has provided expert testimony and forensic accounting services in over one thousand cases in South Florida as well as Federal Court. In addition to being a Court appointed Special Master, receiver and mutual aide to the court and is a Certified Mediator.
She holds a B.S. degree in accounting from Ithica College and is certified in both New York State and Florida. She has served on numerous civic organizations, was founding member of the Miami Forum, and has previously served on the Florida Bar’s UPL committee, was a trustee for the board of directors of AMIKids, an emeritus member of The Florida Board of Bar Examiners, and Treasurer on the Board of Directors of MOCA Miami. She has served on the Board of Directors of the MiART Foundation for over a decade.
Susan Grant Lewin
Susan Grant Lewin is an authority on marketing, public relations, brand-building, and image enhancement for the art and design industry. Throughout her career as a journalist, corporate communications executive, and public relations consultant, Susan has consistently pushed the boundaries of creative marketing to the highest levels of design excellence.
Susan Grant Lewin international communications firm has been a respected leader in the worlds of architecture, art, and design for the last 20 years with long-standing relationships with journalists, curators, and influencers who inform opinions. The firm’s diverse range of clients include architects, museums, artists, designers, galleries, art fairs, real estate developers, biennials, non-profit foundations, luxury brands, and corporate art patrons.
Susan has served on numerous boards, received prestigious awards, has published multiple books, and has donated a significant collection of contemporary jewelry to the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, which was shown in the exhibition Jewelry of Ideas (2017-2018).
Contact MiART Foundation
Tina Spiro | Executive Director
E-mail: [email protected]
Address: 888 Biscayne Blvd #202
Miami, FL 33132
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