MIAMI.- The Board of Directors of the Cintas Foundation is pleased to announce the five finalists for the 2007 Cintas Foundation Emilio Sanchez Award in the Visual Arts (in alphabetical order): Alexandre Arrechea, Maria Martinez-Canas, Gean Moreno, Wilfredo Prieto, and Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova.

A group exhibition of their work will be open to the public from June 7th through September 16th at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum . The Cintas Foundation Board of Directors will announce the winner at an award ceremony and public reception at the same location at a date to be announced. The Cintas Foundation awards exhibition and ceremony alternates annually between New York and Miami .

The 2007 jury for this prestigious award included: Bonnie Clearwater, executive director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, Silvia Karmen Cubina, director of The Moore Space and Suzanne Delehanty, former director of the Miami Art Museum and currently consulting through Suzanne Delehanty, LLC. “We had a very competitive field of applicants this year and we are looking forward to a very exciting exhibition,” stated Cintas Foundation president Hortensia Sampedro, “The jury did an admirable job of selecting the finalists from the highly qualified candidates.”

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) 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 Jose Bedia, the late Felix Gonzalez-Torres who will represent the United States at this year’s Venice Biennale, installation artist Teresita Fernandez, sculptor Maria Elena Gonzales, and the painter Carlos Alfonzo, among many others. The award carries a $15,000 cash prize 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.