The list of Cintas fellows draws an eloquent history of Cuban art in exile. Cintas architects, musicians, writers and artists have recorded the triumphs and trials of the Diaspora – from the early days in Miami through the Mariel boatlift and the raft exodus of the 1990s into the 21st century – in novels, on canvas, on the stage and in videos and film.

The Cintas Foundation hopes to increase its support of artists via fellowships, and to showcase the work of its fellows through exhibitions, symposia and publications. The Foundation will also continue conserving and protecting the artwork in its collections.

The Cintas Foundation grants a fellowship in the visual arts and, beginning in 2007, in music composition every year. It grants fellowships in architecture and creative writing on alternate years. There are many worthy Cuban artists who deserve recognition and support, and therefore the foundation wishes to increase the frequency of all the fellowships to annual grants. To help further this goal, the foundation is seeking to enlarge its endowment, and has received two important contributions in the past year.

In 2005, the Emilio Sanchez Foundation endowed an award in the visual arts, through 2009, in honor of the late Cuban artist and Cintas Fellow Emilio Sanchez.

In 2006, hedge fund manager R. Brandon Fradd, of New York City, endowed in perpetuity the Cintas Foundation Brandon Fradd Fellowship in Music Composition.

No entity has done more for Cuban art in exile than the Cintas Foundation, the legacy of Oscar B. Cintas. Quietly, over the course of more than four decades, the Cintas Foundation has granted its fellowships and its prestigious recognition to Cuban artists, assisting them in their work. Increased capital endowment would allow the Foundation to continue and expand this fine effort. There are a limited number of opportunities in the fields of architecture and creative writing, as well as in poetry, film, photography, and sculpture. There are also opportunities to endow Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Such contributions would offer the donor permanent association with an internationally recognized, independently managed institution, the opportunity to support worthy artists, and the satisfaction of having made a material difference in the world of Cuban art and the humanities.The donor would be contributing to the work of the Cintas Foundation that over the course of more than four decades has become the “quiet Nobel Prize” (in more modest terms) of Cuban arts.

Please contact Hortensia E. Sampedro or any of the Cintas Foundation trustees for more information on the capital endowment fund.