Staff
Cathy Leff, Executive Director, and Director Emerita of the Wolfsonian-FIU, is a seasoned cultural professional and creative entrepreneur with more than four decades experience working at the intersection of culture and community-building. In 2018, she assumed the leadership of the 35-year-old Bakehouse, its community of 100 working artists, Board of Directors, and other stakeholders on a 5-year strategic plan, which prioritized the renovation of the organization’s former Art Deco-era bakery as a model center of contemporary cultural production and the addition of affordable housing for artists to its underutilized 2.3-acre campus. Leff also focused on diversifying the artist community, building subsidy funding to ensure affordability for artists, while also building a team and expanding the organization’s programmatic offerings.
Prior to arriving at Bakehouse, Leff worked with Harvard Graduate School of Design from 2017 to 2019 on its Future of the American City | Miami initiative, an experience that impacted her thinking about Bakehouse’s greater role in the community, including its ability to address affordability, mobility, and resiliency/sustainability. In 2021, following a community-driven vision plan with Bakehouse’s participation, the City of Miami approved the Wynwood Norte Neighborhood Revitalization District, paving the way for Bakehouse to achieve its vision to become a community-embedded, live-work, cultural anchor.
From 1987 until 2014 Leff worked in and on The Wolfsonian, a museum and research center in Miami Beach dedicated to the study and appreciation of the persuasive power of art and design. During her twenty-year tenure as Director, she successfully negotiated the gifting of the then-private collection of Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. and helped integrate it into the public domain at FIU. Under her leadership, The Wolfsonian gained local, national, and international acclaim, generating original and traveling exhibitions, producing books and scholarly publications, and encouraging and enabling new object-based research and teaching. At the request of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, she planned and curated in 2008 and 2009 two national conferences, Webwise, exploring the impact of technology and the Internet on the future of museums and libraries.She then led a team at the Wolfsonian in creating one of the first local digital collections, securing a $5M grant from the Knight Foundation to invest in developing the digital platform and infrastructure that would provide access to the collection to anyone, anywhere..
Before the Wolfsonian, Leff served as Vice President of The Wolfson Initiative Corp, a family office, focusing on real estate acquisitions, redevelopment, and external issues related to launching The Wolfsonian. From 1991 until 2014, she was Publisher and Executive Editor of The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, a scholarly publication dedicated to examining the visual and material culture from 1885 until 1945, which she integrated into the Wolfsonian in 1997.
From 1976 to 1987, Leff served as Assistant Director of the City of Miami Community Development Department, where she worked on physical and economic development projects in some of the City’s most underserved neighborhoods. She also administered the City of Miami’s Art-in-Public Places Program and oversaw its cultural programs, helping launch the Miami International Book Fair and Miami International Film Festival, among other annual events.
Leff has served on many cultural and community boards, including the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, City of Miami and City of Miami Beach Planning Advisory Boards, City of Miami Beach Art in Public Places Committee, Miami-Dade County Cultural Affairs Council, ArtTable, Greater Miami Visitor and Convention Bureau, Cintas Foundation, Lotus House Shelter, Association of Art Museum Directors, and American Association of Museums. She is a member of the International Conference of Museums and emerita member of Association of Art Museum Directors.
Laura Novoa, Assistant Director of Programs + Community Engagement, manages the Bakehouse’s studio residency, organizing and implementing public and exhibition-related programming, and facilitating educational initiatives and community partnerships. Most recently, she curated Good Times (2023), a solo presentation by Chris Friday, at Oolite Arts and co-curated Still there are seeds to be gathered, a group exhibition featuring eighteen local women artists, with Karen Grimson in the Miami Design District.
Laura has previously held positions at the Pérez Art Museum Miami; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; and the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, FL. She holds an MA in Curating from the University of Essex in Colchester, UK, where she curated the exhibition (C)overt Corporeality (2017) and was awarded the Thomas Puttfarken Dissertation Prize. She has an undergraduate degree in Art History and Communications from Saint Louis University - Madrid.
Krys Ortega, Public Programs + Community Partnerships Coordinator, is a recent graduate of Williams College with dual degrees in Art History and Political Theory. At university, Krys interned at Williams College Museum of Art and participated with the Agents for Creative Action (ACA), where she produced a range of exhibitions and public programs. In addition, Krys brings extensive hands-on experience facilitating arts and community programming from their time interning with the Advancement Department at the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Exhibition and Programs Production department at MoMA PS1, New York; as well as a summer workshop program at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Krys currently lives and works in Miami.
Oscar Cortes, Maintenance Manager, is responsible for the daily maintenance and upkeep of the Bakehouse facilities and 2.3-acre site and oversees all work being performed by sub-contractors. Oscar brings to Bakehouse decades of experience working in general building maintenance and repairs of large buildings and complexes. He meticulously and lovingly takes care of the Bakehouse’s aging building, putting equal attention on ensuring its spaces and studios serve the need of our artists, public, and staff.
Since joining Bakehouse in 2021, Oscar has revealed a hidden talent—master of ceremonies of Bakehouse’s renown artist karaoke parties.
Board of Directors
Christopher Carter
José Félix Díaz
Edouard Duval-Carrié
Rodolphe el-Khoury
Alex Fraser
Maurice Habif
Zach Hyman, Honorary Board Member
Lawrence Kline, Vice-President
Adam Koffler
Jason Korman, President
Adriene McCoy
Kevin Michael
Lia Yaffar Pena, Treasurer
Claudio Riedi
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Wesley J. Hevia, Board Member Emeritus
Christine M. King, Board Member Emerita
Bakehouse Founders
Ms. Faith Atlass
Ms. Helene Pancoast
Dr. David & Nathalie* Nadel
*in memoriam