Suzy Delvalle - October 2020
“The SPF residency was just what I needed to recover, refocus and REGENERATE! Muchas gracias por esta oportunidad!”
Susan (Suzy) Delvalle is a fierce advocate for art and artists. With over 20 years of leadership experience in the cultural sector, she has committed her career to enhancing the impact of mission-based organizations and building opportunity and equity in the arts. She most recently served as President and Executive Director of Creative Capital, an innovative arts nonprofit that adapts venture philanthropy concepts to support individual artists. Only the second Director in Creative Capital’s history, Suzy oversaw some of the most dramatic changes in the organization’s two-decade history. Under her leadership, Creative Capital increased its annual operating budget 20 percent by instituting a three-year fundraising cycle, further developed the board with ten new active members while also establishing a National Advisory Council, and expanded services to artists by instituting regular, annual Creative Capital Awards and retreats.
Suzy formerly served as the founding Director of the Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling, where she oversaw all aspects of the development and opening of the museum. She previously served as Director of External Affairs and Development at El Museo Del Barrio, where she dramatically increased the museum’s budget and attendance over her eleven-year tenure. Before joining El Museo, she worked for American Composers Orchestra following a career in consumer banking and advertising. Suzy has served as adjunct faculty at NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies and is a guest lecturer at several universities. She serves on the Board of ArtTable, New Yorkers for Culture & Arts, The Laundromat Project and is a member of The Metropolitan Museum’s Advisory Committee in Culture Engagement. She was born and raised in Curaçao and speaks Spanish, Dutch, and Papiamento.
While at Surf Point, Suzy plans to work on an initiative on US-Latinx art and artists to address their lack of representation in US scholarship, galleries, museums, institutions, and the sector at large. The voice and perspectives of artists from Latinx and Caribbean communities have long been marginalized, while demographically they represent the second largest majority in the US. They provide alternative, nuanced representations of the many facets of their communities and contributions to the fabric of this country, and the range of issues that Latinxs face today. While there are a few actively working groups addressing certain components, there is a need to gain a larger-picture understanding of the major gaps in the field, and determine a multi-prong, proactive agenda to leverage efforts. Suzy will focus her time on research, coordination and navigation of a more expansive and inclusive plan to proactively bridge gaps and address these needs both short- and long-term.
photo credit: Ariana Lindquist