Suzanne Snider, curator of the Museum of Central American Art in Delray Beach, holds a copy of the book she co-wrote with her business partner, Mark Ford. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Delray Beach resident Suzanne Snider has spent a lifetime on the move, both geographically and while following her career path.
When she was 20, newly married and living in West Palm Beach, her husband, Court, gave her a camera. “I fell in love with photography, which opened my eyes to art and design,” she remembers.
At 21, she followed her husband to Korea after he was drafted. “That was a wonderful experience living there for a year. It opened my eyes to the world and a new culture,” she said.
Then for the next 30 years, this mother of two and grandmother of two hop-skipped between Florida, North Carolina and Costa Rica, working in art-related venues, owning a surf shop, developing children enrichment programs and picking up print-making. She also managed to finish college and study art history.
“It only took me 36 years to get my degree. I graduated summa cum laude, thank you,” said Snider, 77.
Her time in Costa Rica deepened her connection to art, she said. “I was introduced to local contemporary artists who wanted to be represented in the United States. I still represent them and have their artwork. They include Enar Cruz, Alejandro Villalobos, Edgar Zuñiga and Marcia Salas.”
After returning to Florida, Snider crossed paths with Delray Beach resident Mark Ford, an entrepreneur, art collector, author and philanthropist, and the next chapter of her life took off. With him, she’s started art galleries, participated in art shows, built his collection of Central American art and written a book, Central American Modernism.
In 2025, they opened the Museum of Central American Art at The Annex, 290 SE Second Ave., Delray Beach.
“Our mission statement is basically to bring awareness to Central American art and to educate about the richness of the cultures,” she said.
Its fourth show, “The Masters of the Matrix: Latin American Printmaking,” is on exhibit through January 2027, along with related monthly events.
For this show, Snider has “branched out,” she said. “I’ve incorporated a lot of Mexican, South American and Cuban works from Mark’s collection: etchings, serigraphs, mixographs, stone lithographs, woodblock printing, piezographs and xylographs, which was invented by a Costa Rican artist.”
And the momentum continues. She’s working on a new book, Central American Postmodernism.
“I didn’t realize that I was going to be embarking on such a satisfying and important career at the age of 59,” she said. “It took me by surprise. Meeting Mark Ford and working with him has been such a gift to me, as well as working with so many people in Central America.
“In 2021, I published a children’s book about one day in my life in Costa Rica — Groovy Grandma’s Surf Shop.”
— Christine Davis
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. I grew up in Palm Beach County in a wonderful community that no longer exists called the town of Golfview. We could walk to the elementary school and the junior high school. I think those days gave me my sense of assuredness and living without fear. Growing up with four brothers gave me a competitive spirit.
Palm Beach High School was considered to be located at the western border of the city of West Palm Beach in the 1960s, and we never suspected the growth that would occur. Military Trail was at the edge of the “boonies.”
I received my associate degree from Palm Beach Junior College. It was then only a two-year program at the campus on Congress Avenue. Classes with Watson B. Duncan III opened my eyes to literature. I continued my studies at UNC-Charlotte and North Carolina State, where I specialized in print-making and art history. And the world of art opened its arms to me.
Q. What professions have you worked in? What professional accomplishments are you most proud of?
A. Personally, I think all we experience influences our futures. Graphic design, teaching, being the director of a children’s museum and owning a surf shop in Tamarindo gave me skills that I use in my most- proud-of and current career of being the curator and director of the Museum of Central American Art.
Q. What advice do you have for a young person selecting a career today?
A. Realize what you don’t like doing and discover what you do well.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Delray Beach?
A. After living five years in Costa Rica, I returned to represent Costa Rican artists in the USA and being close to Miami — the Latin American capital of the world — made sense. I stayed with a dear friend, Judy Testa, and exhibited in her Via in Palm Beach next to her restaurant for a few months. Then rented a cute house in Lake Worth, a walking town, near the bridge.
I had little success selling the artwork on weekends and found supporting work creating children’s enrichments and working part time in a frame shop in Delray Beach. It was there I encountered my business partner, Mark Ford, in 2008.
Delray was just then on the cusp of being voted “best small tourist town,” most of the shops on the Avenue were locally owned, and it was a joy to walk or bicycle everywhere any time or day. And the beach here — exceptional. ... It felt right and I found myself embarking on a new adventure in life at the age of 59.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Delray Beach?
A. Living near the beach and in a town that embraces walking.
Q. What book are you reading now?
A. One by a favorite author, Haruki Murakami, The City and its Uncertain Walls.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. For work I like Strunz & Farah as well as Hermanos Gutierrez, and to relax, blues and the oh-so nostalgic music of the ’60s and ’70s.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. To predict the future, create it.
Q. Have you had mentors in your life? Individuals who have inspired your life decisions?
A. Mother Nature is my constant mentor. Living in South Korea for a year when I was 21 opened my eyes to the world.
Q. If your life story were made into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A. Helen Mirren, of course.
The museum is at 290 SE Second Ave. Hours are by appointment noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. 561-808-8587; mocaart.org
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