Miami, Sept. 12, 2016 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Museum of Art + Design (MOA+D), home of the CINTAS Fellows Collection, and the CINTAS Foundation, have announced this year’s finalists for the annual CINTAS Knight Foundation Fellowship Competition. A reception and awards ceremony will take place starting at 6 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 12, at the college’s iconic Freedom Tower. The awards will be announced promptly at 7 p.m.
MOA+D will be exhibiting the visual arts finalists’ work through Dec. 30, 2016. The exhibition, which features works by each of the visual arts finalists, is free and open to the public.
CINTAS Knight Foundation Fellowship in the Visual Arts Finalists: Pavel Acosta-Proenza, Aurora de Armendi, Ivan Toth Depeña, Vanessa Diaz, Liliana Garcia-Roig, Diana Guerrero-Macia, Gabriel Martinez, Hugo Patao, Carlos Rigau, Norberto Rodriguez, Juana Valdes.
The jury: Amada Cruz, Director, Phoenix Art Museum; Stephen Maine, The School of Visual Arts, New York; Dominic Molon, Curator, RISD Museum; Shannon Stratton, Chief Curator; Museum of Art and Design, New York; Helen Toomer, Director, Pulse Contemporary Art Fair
“We are most appreciative of the Knight Foundation’s on-going grant for the Visual Arts,” said CINTAS Foundation Board President Hortensia E. Sampedro. “Their vision in supporting CINTAS Fellows allows for the continued evolution of this unique fellowship.”
The competition, marking its 53rd year, is open to painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, video and the media arts. The Fellowship includes a $15,000 award to carry out the artist’s project as submitted. The blue-ribbon jury is comprised of national and international jurors of standing.
“The CINTAS Foundation helps foster the next generation by providing recognition and funding to artists at a critical time in their professional development,” said Victoria Rogers, vice president of arts for Knight Foundation.
The prestigious competition has recognized creative accomplishments by Cuban artists of the diaspora in the various artistic movements over the last five decades. It is unique in its depth and breadth and historic as well as artistic significance of a prolific and significant period in Cuban arts.
Winners are invited to become part of the CINTAS Fellows Collection through their artistic donations to the one-of-a-kind collection of Cuban art unique in its representation of the increasingly important works of said artists and creative movements since 1963. It is also one of the largest bodies of Cuban art outside of Cuba.
About the CINTAS Fellowship Program
The CINTAS Fellowship Program encourages creative development in architecture, literature, music composition and the visual arts. The CINTAS Foundation was established with funds from the estate of Oscar B. Cintas (1887-1957), former Cuban ambassador to the United States, a prominent industrialist and patron of the arts. In June 2011, the CINTAS Foundation entered into an extended loan to MDC’s Museum of Art + Design of the CINTAS Fellows Collection. It is comprised of nearly 300 pieces by artists of Cuban descent living outside Cuba who have received prestigious CINTAS Fellowships awarded since 1963. The Fellows range from Carmen Herrera to Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Maria Martinez-Cañas, Teresita Fernandez, Pulitzer Prize winner Oscar Hijuelos, multiple-Obie winner Maria Elena Fornes, architect Andres Duany, Latin Grammy finalist composer Tania Leon and many others. www.cintasfoundation.org
About MDC’s Museum of Art + Design
MDC Museum of Art + Design is Miami Dade College’s flagship institution dedicated to the presentation and exhibition of visual art and design, located within the historic MDC Freedom Tower in downtown Miami. With more than 13,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Museum of Art + Design presents year-round exhibitions and educational programs, and is known for its presentation of exhibitions by emerging artists, designers, as well as major figures in modern, post-modern and contemporary art. With a mission to promote the appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement, original works of art, design, and related creative processes; the Museum provides residents and visitors access to unique cultural, historical, and educational exhibitions that enrich our community, while building and preserving its expansive permanent art collection. Available to the public five days a week, and as an admission FREE institution with a diversity of patrons and visitors, the MDC Museum of Art + Design is one of the largest and most accessible institutions in the South Florida area devoted to visual arts and design.
More information can be found on the Museum & Galleries website: www.mdcmoad.org
For more information about the CINTAS program at MDC Museum of Art + Design, please contact Laurie Escobar, CINTAS Administrator, 305-237-7901, lescobar@mdc.edu.