As the co-founders of Casa Tua—a hospitality concept with outposts in Miami, Aspen, New York, and Paris—Miky and Leticia Grendene have refined their precise blend of art, community, and elevated living. The couple outfits each of their well-trafficked locations with a rotation of exhibitions—partially sourced from their own decades-spanning, photography-focused collection—that reflect their evolving personal tastes.
In Aspen, where they once lived full-time and continue to return each season, the pair have grown the local Casa Tua into a year-round cultural anchor—finished with a rustic edge, intimate library, chef’s-table dining, and, of course, singular trove of artwork. Here, they tell CULTURED about their latest discovery: a collection of images by Anastasia Samoylova coming to Casa Tua this summer.
CULTURED: How did Aspen first become part of your life, and what keeps you coming back each season?
Miky and Leticia Grendene: We’ve always loved Aspen—we started going years before we had kids and returned often once they were born, spending many special holidays there. When we opened Casa Tua in Aspen, we moved our family and lived there year-round for the first five years. It was always our dream to raise our children close to nature and to build something that would become a lasting tradition for our family and the community. Aspen is iconic, but what makes it truly special is the local community that have become lifelong friends, and its deep connection to nature, which has influenced our perspective on quality of life. That’s what drew us in then, and it’s what keeps bringing us back.
CULTURED: Over the years, how has your relationship to collecting evolved—both personally and through the Casa Tua spaces?
The Grendenes: We have been collecting art for 30 years; we decided to focus on photography for its versatile nature, accessible price point, and the mere fact that you can form an in-depth collection by knowing one medium very well. Within photography, our collection has a vast variety, from Edward Weston and Diane Arbus to Roe Ethridge, Vera Lutter, Robert Mapplethorpe, Irving Penn, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, and Seydou Keïta, just to name a few. It was the perfect place to start—I say this to our members and clients who begin their collections with us.
Over the last few years, we’ve begun to explore new mediums, with an interest in sculpture and painting. Focus in life is good, but curiosity is far more interesting. We’ve become curious collectors. When we opened Casa Tua, the concept was to make it an extension of our home. Of course, this encompassed our love of photography. We asked galleries to consign us photography to expose on our walls, available for sale to our audience. At first, people thought we were crazy, but once our friend Gert Elfering, a major photography collector, trusted us with his Irving Penns, Richard Avedons, Horst P. Horsts, and a few sales occurred, everyone else became more open to the idea.
CULTURED: What summer rituals anchor your time in Aspen?
The Grendenes: Summer in Aspen is such a special time for us. We love getting outside—road biking, mountain biking, and foraging for porcini mushrooms, especially when we can share them with friends and family. We’ve found a few secret porcini spots over the years, and returning to them always feels like coming home.
CULTURED: In what ways have your children influenced your collection, or perhaps begun to build a visual language of their own?
The Grendenes: Art is not something we ever set out to teach—our children have embraced it organically. They’ve developed their own eye and now take photographs using everything from digital cameras to film. It’s been beautiful to watch them build a visual language of their own, shaped by their curiosity, our travels, and the artistic world they’ve grown up in.
CULTURED: What first drew you to Anastasia Samoylova’s work? Was there a particular piece or moment that sparked the conversation?
The Grendenes: It was Rashid Johnson who put us in touch with Anastasia and suggested we tour her exhibition at the Met. As soon as we met her, we were blown away. What was supposed to be a 10-minute tour turned into a two-hour conversation on life, photography, Miami, irony, beauty, and history. Her work is intuitive and layered. Initially, living in Miami, the theme caught our attention, but it was really the fact that each image made us slow down and look again. The photos are familiar and foreign to us at the same time, and it’s the mystery in the known that draws us in.
CULTURED: Looking back on your path as collectors, how has your taste in photography shifted or remained consistent? Are there core values or instincts that have stayed with you throughout?
The Grendenes: The key is curiosity, which has led us to find incredible artists. We have always sought out the path less followed.
CULTURED: Other than Anastasia, which photographers are you currently most excited about? And where do you go to discover new artists?
The Grendenes: Although he isn’t a photographer, I’m excited by the work of Álvaro Urbano; there’s a simultaneous delicacy and magnitude to his work I really appreciate. Roe Ethridge has always been a favorite. We have his photography installed at Casa Tua New York, and he recently came to take photos of our iconic dishes, placed alongside toy boats and cars in a classic Ethridge composition, for CULTURED’s Art+ Food issue. Great art is everywhere, if you’re looking.
in your life?
