Sina Sutter papers

Sina Sutter (b.1951) is an Orlando based Cuban-American visual artist and educator originally from Matanzas, Cuba. Her works, many of them landscapes and composites, weave in themes that relate to her Cuban roots through the use of color and choice of subject.

Sutter began exploring her passion for creating art when she was seven years old. In an interview, she states that she was driven by her love for nature and all living things to become an artist.

In 1962, when Sutter was just 11 years old, her family fled Cuba. They arrived in Miami eight years later in 1970. At age 18, Sutter put her artistic skills to work as a scenic artist at major entertainment venues and corporations, including the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus World, and Vision Enterprises. She also worked as a potter at Axner Ceramics, and as a miniaturist on the "White House in Miniature," which was exhibited worldwide, as well as many other projects. In 1981, she opened an art gallery, the Tropic Art Design, with a business partner and her husband Ben Sutter.

During the 1980’s, Sutter reconnected with her roots, which changed the course of her future work and was the starting point for the decade-long development of her artistic style and philosophy. This new turn in her life as an artist put her identity as a Latina front and center. She especially explored the textures, colors, styles, and locations that are unique to Cuban culture and important to Cuban identity and nationality. Her embrace of her roots did not make her work less accessible to audiences, but rather produced “a style that is sometimes complex yet able to reach people at many different levels.” Many of the titles of her works are bilingual in both Spanish and English. Sutter’s artist statement exemplifies her belief in art’s connection to the living world and personal identity:

"Art is the essence of feeling in its diverse forms. It includes the broadest aspects of life and how each singular personality manifests its perception of each existing experience by means of an aesthetic and comfortable wrapper that stimulates the imagination."

(Su filosofía artística: Arte es la esencia de los sentimientos en sus diversas formas, llevados a las exposiciones más amplias de la vida, en la cual se manifiestan cada una de las personalidades y su manera de sentir frente cada situación existente; mediante una envoltura estética y confortable que desarrolla la imaginación del hombre.)

Sutter has also worked with government grants and initiatives on behalf of women and the Latinx community. She is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Caucus for Art and was the Chair of the Latina Caucus. She worked with the National Hispanic Leadership Institute creating the posters for the 2000 and 2002 Mujer Award, and from 1999 to 2008 at the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI) Mujer Awards Gala, in Orlando, Florida, La Jolla, California, San Antonio, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. She also worked with the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives event for Women's History Month (2001), for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2003, 2004), and for UNIFEM's fundraising event for the women of Afghanistan (2004).

Sutter has had her work exhibited all around the country including at the Epcot Guest relations lobby since October 2002, and in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, and in Florida at Walt Disney and other locations in Orlando. Her work has been featured in the following exhibitions: Ritmos Místicos (Mystic Rhythms), City Hall, Casselbury, FL in 2011; Art Buyers Caravan, Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Orlando, FL, and Los Angeles, CA from 1987-1997; Latin American Art in Orlando, Terrace Gallery, City Hall, Orlando, FL; Art Expo, Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA; Professional Pictures Framers Association, Las Vegas, NV; Art Expo, Galleria, New York, NY; The Year of the Ox, Orlando, Terrace Gallery, City Hall, Orlando, FL; Celebrating Hispanic Heritage, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL; Archivers Exhibitions, Celebration of Hispanic Art, The Plaza Hotel, New York, NY; The 10th Annual National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education, Lake Buena Vista, FL; Great Southern Gallery, Key West, FL; Diversity, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, Orlando, FL; Ofrendas, Border Crossings: Voices of the Past (Installation), Maitland Art Center, Maitlan, FL; Latin Colors Reflexions, Casselberry, FL; The Hispanic 100 (Honoree and Exhibitor), Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL; and Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL.

Sutter has won awards for her creative work including the People’s Choice Award at the Osceola Art Center at the Creativa Art Show, exhibited at the Mexican Consulate in Orlando celebrating Frida Kahlo’s life, and successfully completed an Art & Development Partnership with CREOG APGO, a Medical Education Conference.

During her career, Sutter worked not only as an artist, but as an educator. Sutter founded the Learn to Be Creative and Art Mindfulness Series professional workshops that provided creative outlets and education in corporate settings. She also led workshops at the Family Leadership Institute, Educational Achievement Services, Learning to be Creative Seminar, Empowerment Works, and Chronic Diseases Stress Management Program in Orlando and Miami.