Meet the Team

Art’s Cafe is run by a team of worker-owners. Our overall mission and goals are guided by a nine person Board with representatives from Springville Center for the Arts, the workers and our community-owners. 

Management Team / Worker-Owners

Carol Brucato

Former owner of the Farmer’s Daughter Cafe, Carol is excited to bring good coffee and great food back to downtown Springville. From knowing a good cup of coffee to making her own cheese, Carol is interested in all things food. Carol worked for Wegmans as a Cheesemonger, and brings years of experience in food service and management to the team. She previously spent thirteen years with Ticketmaster as General Manager for the Western and Central New York region doing contract negotiation, personnel management, budgets, promotional execution, and software support. She programmed events and provided software support for box offices from New England to Virginia. Prior to that she spent four years as Box Office Manager for the Boston Ballet.

Allison Duwe 

Community organizer, non-profit director and mother, turned baker, Allison first tested her skills at granola, bread, and pizza making in the dining co-ops of Oberlin College. Spending the last several years deepening her knowledge of all things bread, Duwe oversees artisan bread and baking operations at Art’s Cafe. Allison also brings her organizational and fundraising talents to the Art’s Cafe operation. Allison served from 2006-2012 as the Executive Director of the Coalition for Economic Justice in Buffalo, NY. She is the past President of Springville Center for the Arts, Partnership for the Public Good, and the Springville GI School Board. She has been recognized by the John R. Oishei Foundation for her leadership skills.

Lia Oprea

With over twenty years as a waitress, host or manager of restaurants in New York City and Los Angeles, Lia is no stranger to food service. After leading ship and land based travel expeditions worldwide with Lindblad Special Expeditions, (now Lindblad-National Geographic), she became a Director of Field Staff at the Seattle-based Zegrahm Expeditions. She worked as a consultant in Southern California after starting a company that assisted smaller restaurants in upgrading their interior design, staff, equipment and service systems. She is currently the General Manager for the Family Estate and
Trust: Historic National Register Property Rider-Hopkins Farm and Olmsted Camp in Sardinia.

Sam Skura

Sam joined the Cafe team in early 2021 while the organization was still in Backdoor Bakery mode. Sam began tinkering with sourdough in her home kitchen and asked if she could volunteer at Art’s to learn more. She quickly became indispensable. Sam is trained as an elementary school teacher, is raising two amazing sons with her husband Luke, is active with the SES PTA and the Methodist Church of Springville, and is a founding member of the local MOPS group – mothers of preschoolers. Sam serves on the Cafe Board, can be seen shaping bread through the bakery window or pulling shots of espresso at the front counter. She also serves as our in-house design guru and is the coolest member of the Cafe team now that she has a nose piercing. 

David Moore

This emigre from Belfast, Ireland first came to Art’s as an intern while pursuing his culinary certificate from ECC. David has a background in film studies and communications. He met his wife at University and they reside in Collins with their son, Caelen (the first Cafe baby), and two amazing dogs. David’s move towards professional baking was inspired by the Covid pandemic. He spent several months at Art’s learning about our bakery operations and was brought on staff after his internship ended. He keeps our croissant operation going and is responsible for pretty much every cookie we sell.  

Seth Wochensky

Seth serves as Executive Director of Springville Center for the Arts, a rural multi-arts organization now recognized as one of the most active arts organizations in the region. As Director, he recently oversaw the implementation of over $1 million in capital projects, including seven simultaneous state grants from different agencies. Those projects encompassed such challenges as collapsed roofs, major asbestos remediation, stringent SHPO requirements, volunteer components, historic tax credits, and limited bridge financing. In addition to arts administration he is an artist in his own right, having appeared on stage, exhibited artwork, completed large scale installations and produced several CD’s. He previously produced several award-winning short films and has production credits including MTV, The Travel Channel, ABC, and The History Channel. He is an avid organic gardener. 

Seth is the LLC Manager for our investment entity and helps to manage the relationship between community investors, cafe management and the Arts Center. He is the Chair of the Art’s Cafe Management Board. 

The Board

A Board oversees the cafe operation and ensures that the project works towards improving the community, the workers and local arts access. In addition to the worker-owners, three members represent our community-owners and three members represent the interest of Springville Center for the Arts. 

Mark Stevens (SCA X)

Mark retired from a thirty-one year career at General Motors doing tool set-up, precision grinding and assembly. He was active in the United Auto Workers. He now works on the Town of Sardinia seasonal maintenance and grounds keeping crew. He is a member of the Sardinia Historical Society and the Springville Meals on Wheels. He is an active building volunteer and Board Member of Springville Center for the Arts.

Mary Carol Dearing (SCA X)

As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-R) and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor (RPT-S), Mary Carol worked as a passionate school social worker in a public school for over 30 years. Currently, she has her own business, Grow Mindful WNY, offering training and consulting in mindfulness education, play therapy and social-emotional learning. She is a current member of the NYS School Social Workers Association and the Association for Play Therapy as well as a Board Member of Springville Center for the Arts. She volunteers with the Buffalo Audubon SocietyErie-Catt Rail Trail, as well as the SCA Greenskeepers, tending the green roof at Art’s Cafe. 

Katherine (Kasey) Gaines, MD (SCA X)

As a medical doctor, Kasey has a passion for the intersection of food, gardening and health. She taught as an assistant and associate professor at SUNY Buffalo, Department of Medicine. Her career spans teaching and attending physician work at ECMC, Gastroenterology Associates, Hospice Buffalo, Buffalo General and more. She has a personal avocation in cooking and nutritional anthropology, supplemented by travel in US and abroad and she has presented numerous times on nutritional issues to medical and lay audiences. She previously served on the ethics committees at Kaleida and Catholic Health and the Bylaws Committee at ECMC. Kasey was active in Scouting for over fifteen years and now serves on the Board of Springville Center for the Arts. 

Missy Singer DuMars (ACCO)

Missy comes from a deep tradition of entrepreneurship and business having grown up in a multi-generational family business. She worked in Entertainment Lighting, managing multi-million dollar projects including Cirque du Soleil and Celine Dion’s Caesars Colosseum. From there she transitioned to the Holistic community and now has over 20 years experience with counseling, teaching, facilitating retreats, and event planning. She supports business owners to grow their business in a way that is authentic, conscious and sustainable. Missy owns and manages Crown Hill Farm where she grows heirloom vegetables, raises heritage poultry and advocates for food diversity and sovereignty. The farm also serves as a venue for groups, events & private retreats.

Martin T. Hoffman, MD (ACCO)

Marty graduated from Brandeis University in 1968 with a BA in Psychology. He
moved to Western NY to attend UB Medical School and graduated in 1972. After
completing residency in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, he joined as
one of the original members of Springville Pediatrics. He worked there and at Bertrand Chaffee Hospital for 21 years. He was School Physician for SGI and Consultant Physician for the League for the Handicapped (now Children’s League). In 2010 he was appointed as the Medical Director of the Robert Warner MD Rehabilitation Center. He recently retired. Marty’s interests include birding, photography, and bird photography. 

Joe Williams (ACCO)

Joe Williams has 20+ years experience as a litigation paralegal and is and currently working at Taft Stettinius & Hollister, a large, national law firm based out of Cincinnati, OH. He’s an avid outdoor enthusiast and supporter of many initiatives including Sierra Club’s Clean Water Initiative, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Ohio Citizen’s Action and Buffalo Blue Way. He enjoys volunteering at Ronald McDonald House, Habitat for Humanity and other programs.