MEET THE FOUNDERS
MARINA KOVALYOV, PARTNER
Marina Kovalyov is highly regarded worldwide as a cultural and business leader. After arriving in the USA, Marina worked as a chief curator at the Costumes and Textiles department at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
In 1997, Marina Kovalyov co-founded the Art, Spots & Education Global Bridges Foundation ( former RAF) with the goal of building a bridge between the United States and former Soviet countries through art, cultural initiatives, and youth programming. Today, A.S.E. initiatives are highly recognized for their ongoing support of cultural dialogue on national and international levels, among those: John Cranko School Das Stuttgarter Ballet Summer Intensive Program in USA, NSLI-Y for Youth Scholarships to Study Language Abroad programs, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; Our Heritage Month®️, founded in collaboration with the City of New York and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, among many others.
Joined by her partner Sonya Bekkerman, Marina Kovalyov co-founded The Sonmar Group, LLC, a highly successful international art consulting firm specializing in art curation. In 2017, as part of Astana Expo 2017, The Sonmar Group LLC presented the works of the legendary artist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich for the first time in Kazakhstan as part of the exhibition “In Search of Shambhala: Masterpieces from the Nicholas Roerich Museum New York.”
Marina Kovalyov has received numerous awards for her contributions. In 2017, she was honored by Mayor Bill de Blasio for her Outstanding Contributions to New York City. For three consecutive years from 2006-2008, she was recognized for “Contributions to the Successful Development of Cultural Life of New York City," and in 2005, she was honored by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg for her Outstanding Contributions to New York City, among many others.
SONYA BEKKERMAN, PARTNER
Sonya Bekkerman is an international art consultant, advisor, curator, entrepreneur, and innovator with over 20 years of broad global experience.
She is a partner in The Sonmar Group, LLC., a consulting group specializing in ideation and strategy for event production, international art curation, art acquisition, art collection formulation, planning, and management. Together with her business partner Marina Kovalyov, The Sonmar Group brought the first art exhibition from an American museum, “In Search of Shambhala: Masterpieces from the Nicholas Roerich Museum New York,” to the National Museum in Kazakhstan to coincide with Expo 2017 Astana.
Most recently, Sonya served as Deputy Chairman of Business Development at Christie's London, where she identified growth opportunities in under-developed markets with a focus on business-transforming clients, developed special project sales outside of usual categories, and worked on innovation, exploring out-of-the-box projects and opportunities. She created and curated a blockbuster selling exhibition to benefit the Ukraine Heritage Response Fund at the World Monument Fund.
Previously, Sonya Bekkerman was co-founder and CEO of Tondoart, an art application that transformed the way art buyers, investors, and millions of art-interested people understood and accessed the art market in the digital space. She was a Senior Vice President at Sotheby’s auction house, where she focused on 19th-century European art, and established the Russian art department in New York, which opened the Russian auction market in the USA. Sonya oversaw several hundred million dollars worth of sales during her 15-year tenure. She is considered one of the leading experts in Russian art worldwide. Sonya received her MA from Williams College. She is Vice President of Divine Love World Charity, which supports humanitarian giving in Southern India. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to the arts.