NEW YORK.- New York, NY--The Board of Directors of the Cintas Foundation, Inc., the oldest and most prestigious awards in support of Cuban arts and humanities outside Cuba since 1963, announced its two new fellows for 2005 – 2006: Christian Curiel and Amalia Zarranz at the opening of the Cintas Finalists exhibit at the Americas Society (http://as-coa.org/as/art/ExhCintas.html).

Christian Curiel received the newly established Cintas Foundation Emilio Sanchez Fellowship in Visual Arts and Amalia Zarranz received the Cintas Foundation Fellowship in Film. Newly elected president Hortensia Sampedro also announced that each award was increased by 50% to $15,000 in honor of outgoing Cintas Foundation president William B. Warren.

Finalists featured in the six-week exhibit at the Americas Society included works by Christian Curiel, Felipe Dulzaides, Lilian Garcia-Roid, Guerra de la Paz (Visual Arts) and Orlando Rojas and Amalia Zarranz (Film). In 2004, the Cintas Foundation established its new format of exhibiting the work of its finalists and alternating the shows between Miami and New York.

The Cintas Foundation was established with funds from the estate of Oscar B. Cintas (1887-1957), former Cuban ambassador to the United States and a prominent industrialist and patron of the arts. Mr. Cintas was known for his generosity including presenting to the United States the fifth and final manuscript of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, the only one to which Lincoln added his signature. It is currently exhibited in the Lincoln Room of the White House. Cintas Fellowships acknowledge creative accomplishments and encourage creative development in architecture, literature, music composition, and the visual arts. The Cintas Fellowships program is administered by the Cintas Foundation Board and by the Institute of International Education, the nation's oldest and most active organization in the field of international education and cultural exchange. Information about the Cintas Foundation, its program and fellowships is available on www.iie.org/cintas.

The Cintas Fellowships have honored over 300 artists including Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos, multiple Obie-winning playwright Maria Irene Fornes, painters Carlos Alfonzo and Jose Bedia, photographers Andres Serrano and Maria Martinez Canas, , architect Andres Martin Duany, sculptor Maria Elena Gonzales, and composers Julian Orbon, Tania Leon and Orlando Garcia.