Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Theresa Nieves.
Hi Leah Theresa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a biracial Filipino and Puerto Rican American artist, curator, and arts and museum professional based in Winter Garden, Florida. As a first-generation Boricua and Filipina, I grew up navigating a complex relationship with culture, identity, and belonging. Being uprooted from aspects of my heritage led me to explore these experiences through my artwork, often examining themes of regional displacement, identity, illness, heritage, and generational trauma.
My journey as an artist has been closely connected to my own experiences with disability and chronic illness. While receiving treatment at Northwestern for an autoimmune disorder, I continued my studies through the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I was also a Merit Scholarship recipient. During a period when I was physically disabled and unable to work traditionally, painting became one of the few things I could do to support myself and maintain a sense of purpose. My education has continued through studies in Fine Studio Arts at New York University Steinhardt and Creative Writing, Painting, and Museum Leadership at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Alongside my studio practice, I have become increasingly involved in the arts and museum field. I am a member of Soy x Soy, a Latino/Indigenous art collective in Savannah, and have exhibited my work at City Arts, the Savannah Cultural Arts Center, the Oakland Arts & Heritage Center, and Winter Garden City Hall. I have also volunteered and worked with numerous arts and cultural institutions throughout the Southeast, including the Rollins Museum of Fine Art, Orlando Museum of Art, Arts Southeast in Savannah, the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation Museum archives, Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens, House Lead at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Museum and SOBO Art Gallery.
Four years ago, fresh out of college, I began volunteering and taking on contract administrative work at SOBO Art Gallery. That opportunity developed into my current role as Executive Gallery Assistant. Following a recent executive transition, my coworker and I stepped into the role of Co-Interim Executive Directors, giving me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in gallery administration, operations, programming, artist relations, and leadership. This experience has reinforced my desire to continue growing within the arts and museum leadership field.
Recently, I was given the opportunity to independently curate and install my first exhibition at SOBO, Illuminations & Shadows: A Study of Light. I brought together more than 14 local Central Florida artists and received over 50 submissions. The exhibition, alongside our Florida Roots exhibition, resulted in 13 artwork sales totaling approximately $5,600—the highest combined sales the gallery and Winter Garden Art Association had achieved to date.
I have also recently co-founded Gallery Girls with my co-host and UCF Arts History & Business graduate, Callie Jones. Through our Instagram platform @gallery_girlss, we explore, promote, and investigate the local art world while highlighting emerging artistic talent and creating conversations around the arts. We hope to continue expanding the platform and will be covering Art Basel Miami this year.
Ultimately, my journey has allowed me to experience the arts from many perspectives—as an artist, curator, administrator, educator, volunteer, and advocate. Each experience has shaped my understanding of how art can create community, preserve culture, and provide a space for stories that might otherwise go unheard. I hope to continue building on these experiences as I grow as an arts and museum professional and contribute meaningfully to the cultural landscape of Central Florida and beyond.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It’s definitely been a rocky road. I’ve been diagnosed with multiple autoimmune disorders, most recently Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). Living with AS, an inflammatory condition that primarily affects the spine and joints, has had a major impact on my mobility and everyday life in ways that aren’t always visible to other people. Over time, the inflammation can cause the bones in the spine to fuse together, making movement more difficult and limiting flexibility. If left untreated, it can also lead to complications affecting other parts of the body, including the eyes, lungs, heart, and other organs.
Living with chronic illness has become a significant part of my personal journey. It has changed the way I experience my body, understand my limitations, and even relate to my art. Painting became an important outlet for me, especially during periods when my physical limitations made it difficult to do many of the things I once could. Through my art, I’ve been able to process my experiences with illness, disability, identity, and resilience.
I remember being in college and having to leave class in the middle of a lecture because of allergic reactions or seizures. Trying to balance my disabilities with my education and career ambitions has been incredibly difficult. There have been times when I’ve had to work around my body rather than having my body work around my goals. Still, I try not to let my health define who I am or what I’m capable of.
Beyond my health, I’ve also had to navigate the challenges of being a woman of color working in the arts in the South. I’ve dedicated countless hours of unpaid labor and volunteered my time at several arts and cultural institutions because I genuinely care about the work and the communities these organizations serve. Academically and professionally, I know I am qualified for the work I do, yet I’ve often struggled to feel equally valued, or fairly compensated for my contributions.
There is a frustration that comes with constantly feeling like I have to prove myself. At times, it has felt like I have to work twice as hard—or more—to receive the same recognition and opportunities as my white colleagues. Those experiences have been difficult, but they have also made me more determined to create space for myself and for other artists and arts professionals who may face similar barriers.
My health, my identity, and my experiences have all shaped me, but they do not define the entirety of who I am. If anything, they have strengthened my perspective and given me a deeper understanding of why representation, accessibility, and community are so important to me as an artist and arts professional.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Currently, I work full-time at SOBO Art Gallery and the Winter Garden Art Association as the Executive Gallery Assistant. My long-term goal is to become an Executive Director of an art museum or to establish a nonprofit community arts cooperative & art gallery. My professional focus is in arts and nonprofit management and administration, and I’ve built my experience by wearing many different hats within the arts field.
My responsibilities and areas of experience include event coordination, social media marketing, graphic design, art curation, exhibition installation, volunteer management, assisting with art workshops and community outreach, archival cataloging, gallery administration, and museum leadership. I enjoy being involved in many aspects of an organization and have found that my ability to adapt and take on different roles has been one of my greatest strengths.
Although curating Illuminations & Shadows: A Study of Light was incredibly fulfilling and an important milestone in my career, one of the accomplishments I am most proud of is mentoring our Gallery Assistant, Callie Jones. Callie originally came to SOBO as a volunteer, much like I did. While our former Executive Director was on leave, I saw an opportunity to create a summer internship program that would give her meaningful, hands-on experience in gallery management and administration.
Being able to help someone else grow within the arts has been especially rewarding because I understand firsthand how valuable those opportunities can be. I was once the volunteer who was looking for a chance to gain experience, and now I have the opportunity to create that same kind of pathway for someone else. Mentorship and creating opportunities for emerging arts professionals have become an important part of the kind of leader I hope to be.
What’s next?
My plans for the future are ambitious, but they are also deeply personal. Ultimately, my goal is to become an Executive Director of an accomplished art museum and continue growing as a leader within the arts and museum field. Right now, I consider myself a sponge—I’m soaking up as much experience, knowledge, and hands-on training as I possibly can. Every opportunity I’ve had, from gallery administration and curation to museum work and community programming, has helped me better understand the kind of leader I want to become.
I’m also excited about an upcoming exhibition I’m curating in collaboration with Seminole artists, with Indigenous artist Wilson Bower serving as an advisor. This project is especially meaningful to me because it is giving me the opportunity to learn from Indigenous artists and further develop my experience with curatorial work, collaboration, and cultural representation.
One of my biggest personal goals is to regain stability with my health. I want to have the independence and peace of mind that comes with being able to pursue my career without constantly worrying about an autoimmune flare-up or having a seizure at work. I know my health will always be something I have to navigate, but I want to reach a point where it doesn’t prevent me from pursuing the opportunities and goals I’ve worked so hard for.
Creatively, I also have a lot I want to accomplish. I would love to publish my writing, including poetry, diary entries, short stories, and arts and fashion editorial pieces. Writing has always been another way for me to process my experiences and explore the world around me, and I hope to eventually share that work with a wider audience.
As an artist, one of my biggest goals is to have my first solo exhibition featuring work that explores generational trauma, identity, heritage, and my experience as a mixed-race daughter of immigrants. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how my personal history has shaped my identity, and I want to create a body of work that gives those experiences a visual language and allows me to tell those stories in my own way.
There are some important changes I need to make in order to accomplish these goals. First and foremost, I need to find a full-time position at an art museum that provides health insurance and benefits. Having access to consistent healthcare would give me the stability I need to focus on my career, continue developing professionally, and work toward the larger goals I have for myself.
I’m genuinely looking forward to what comes next. I know there is still so much for me to learn, but I’m excited to keep growing, creating, writing, curating, and finding new ways to contribute to the arts community. Ultimately, I want to build a career that allows me to lead, create opportunities for others, and tell meaningful stories through both my artwork and the work I do within museums.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leah_theresa_/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-theresa-/
- Other: https://www.orangeobserver.com/news/2024/may/29/works-of-heart-leah-theresa-nieves-of-winter-garden/
