Yolanda Sanchez created and manages the Fine Arts and Cultural Affairs Division of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department and the art program at Miami International Airport (MIA), which includes the mia Galleries, the Children’s Art Program, continuing temporary exhibitions and collaborations with cultural groups and business partners.

Dr. Sanchez also acts as liaison to the County’s Art in Public Places program, assisting in the administration of a $6.2 billion MIA expansion program. As such, her duties include: identifying art opportunities at MIA; collaborating with architectural and design teams on airport expansion and renovation projects; helping select appropriate artists and works of art; and implementing and installing works.

A native of Havana, Cuba, Dr. Sanchez migrated to the United States in 1960. She obtained a doctorate in clinical psychology from Florida State University in 1979 and has practiced and taught psychology at the graduate level for 24 years. While working as a psychologist, Dr. Sanchez also earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Florida International University (FIU) in 1991 and a master’s degree in fine arts from Yale University in 1994. She is a Fulbright Scholar, completing her fellowship as a painter in Spain in 1995.

A working artist, Dr. Sanchez has exhibited her work in dozens of venues and her paintings form part of public collections at the Graham University Center at FIU, The Art Museum at FIU and the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale.

She has taught at FIU, the University of Miami, Nova University and Yale and is a licensed clinical psychologist in the State of Florida. Dr. Sanchez is the founder and Clinical Director for the Miami chapter of A Home Within, a national, San Francisco-based organization whose mission is to provide pro bono psychotherapy for foster youth. She has served on the board of directors for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and on various committees for the Cultural Affairs Council and currently serves on the Professional Advisory Committee for the Miami-Dade Art in Public Places Program.