"We congratulate Ernesto Oroza on being selected and wish him continued success," said Cintas Foundation President Hortensia E. Sampedro. "And we express our sincere appreciation to this year's jury for their work with a very competitive field of applicants."

The 2008 jury for this prestigious award included: Anne Ellegood, curator, Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, chief curator, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami; Dr. Paula Harper, art historian and critic, Miami, and Yasmil Raymond, assistant curator, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

The awards were established with funds from the estate of the late Oscar B. Cintas (b. Sagua La Grande, Cuba, 1887 – d. New York City, 1957), a prominent Cuban industrialist and patron of the arts. Since 1963, the Cintas Foundation has awarded more than 300 fellowships to artists of Cuban lineage who reside outside of Cuba.

The award has been granted to many artists who have gone on to play an influential role in the development of their disciplines. Past recipients include painter José Bedia, installation artist Teresita Fernández, sculptor Maria Elena Gonzales and the late painter Carlos Alfonzo, among many others. The award carries a $15,000 cash prize funded by the Emilio Sánchez Foundation, which is used by the winner to further his or her creative development.

The selection program is administered by the Cintas Foundation Board and the Cintas Fellows Program at The Patricia & Philip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University. For more information about the Cintas Foundation and past fellows and about The Frost Art Museum at FIU, please visit the websites, www.cintasfoundation.org  and www.frostartmuseum.org  or call 305-348-2890.