New boost for youth art.

• Author: Bianco, Adriana
• Position: !Ojo!

CIFO is A NEW SPACE in the heart of Miami dedicated to Latin American art. Created by Venezuelan businesswoman and collector Ella Fontanals Cisneros, this initiative publicizes young artists and exhibits their work and ideas.

CIFO, the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, is a non-profit organization founded in 2002. Its mission is to promote Latin American art, create positive educational exchanges, and sponsor emerging artists through scholarships and projects. CIFO started with a clear cultural vision and the works of international and Latin American artists that Fontanals Cisneros had been collecting since the 1970s.

"I have always been connected to art," says the Venezuelan entrepreneur, "and the collection I've built shows my commitment to it. The idea of opening up a space for art in southern Florida grew out of my interest in publicizing contemporary artistic expressions and providing opportunities to up-and-coming young artists, especially Latino artists, because we have a lot of talent in Latin America and we really have to promote it. I also think that Latin American art has reached an international level and we can't just pigeonhole it; we have to integrate it into the global art movement."

As she thought about the right environment for exhibits...