Biography

Sandra Luces Marion is an American citizen of Ecuadorian descent, born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her childhood fostered a deep appreciation for both the beauty and the challenges of life in a developing Andean nation. She attended a German school in Ecuador, an experience that created a unique contrast with her surroundings and broadened her perspective from an early age.

At the age of seventeen, Sandra moved to the United States in search of greater educational and professional opportunities. She enrolled at Mies van der Rohe's Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where she developed a lasting connection to the modernist principles of "form follows function" and "less is more." Before graduating, she spent a year studying abroad at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. After earning her Bachelor of Architecture from IIT, her fascination with German culture inspired her to return to Stuttgart for another year to work and continue her studies.

Sandra returned to the United States in 1998 to begin her architectural career in Chicago before relocating to New York City, where she practiced architecture under the supervision of Samuel White. In 2003, she stepped away from her professional career to devote herself to raising her family. In 2011, she and her family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she spent the next eighteen years focused on motherhood while continuing to nurture her creative and design interests. During that time, she helped friends and clients transform their homes through thoughtful remodeling projects. While continuing to develop as an artist, Sandra deepened her understanding of classical techniques and refined her skills in portraiture through the study of the Old Masters.

As her children have grown and embarked on their own careers and college pursuits, she has fully turned her attention to the field of fine arts. She earned a Certificate in Museum Studies from Northwestern University, completed the Comprehensive Appraisal Studies Program through the Appraisers Association of America, and is USPAP compliant. Her multidisciplinary background enables her to approach each project with both scholarly rigor and an artist’s eye, whether in architecture, painting, art appraisal, or museum management.