Opening December 7, 2007
Opening Reception Thursday, December 6 at 5:30pm

Image: "Idilio" by Antonio Rodriguez Morey, 31" x 46", oil on canvas, 1938.
Source: MOAS press release

The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, FL, is having an exhibition including over ninety powerful pre-revolution Cuban paintings by some of Cuba’s most revered artists that will open at the museum on December 7, 2007. The museum is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its own Cuban collection, The Cuban Foundation Museum, which was donated to the "city and people of Daytona Beach" by former Cuban President Fulgencio Batista and his wife Marta in 1957.

The exhibition, Great Masters of Cuban Art 1800 to 1958, will feature 90 paintings from the private collection of Cuban-born collectors Roberto and Carlos Ramos of Miami. Leopoldo Romañach, Esteban Valderrama, Antonio Sanchez Araujo, Evelio Garcia-Mata and Oscar Garcia-Rivera are some of the artists that typify the strength of the collection.

The Cuban Foundation Museum, housed at the Museum of Arts & Sciences, is home to one of the most important collections of Cuban fine and folk art outside of Cuba. The collection chronicles 300 years of Cuban history and art in more than 200 objects. Highlights include extremely rare eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth century maps, documents, lithographs, paintings, furniture, sculpture, and ceramics interpreted bilingually, in a two thousand square foot gallery installation.

The Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS) is the primary cultural agency for Volusia County and is designated as a Major Cultural Institution by the State of Florida. Located on a 90-acre Florida nature preserve, in the heart of Daytona Beach, the 86,000 square foot facility is host to over 30,000 objects including the most complete Giant Ground Sloth Skeleton in North America and one of the largest permanent exhibitions of Cuban art on display outside of Cuba. Also on display is Coca-Cola entrepreneur Chapman Root´s lifetime collection of Americana, including two private train cars. The museum´s theater, planetarium, and children´s center create an interactive experience for each guest.

Daytona Beach is a 23-mile stretch of scenic shoreline along Florida’s Central East Coast. Just an hour´s drive to Orlando´s theme parks, the Daytona Beach area is the ideal location for a vacation or weekend getaway. The city is historically known for its motor sports, with both Daytona International Speedway and the old Daytona Beach Road Course having hosted races for over a century. However, the Daytona Beach area has increasingly become a cultural hub of Central Florida and this cultural coast extends from Ormond Beach in the north to New Smyrna Beach in the south. Cultural organizations in this tri-city area include the Casements (winter home of John D. Rockefeller), Ormond Memorial Museum and Gardens, Southeast Museum of Photography, Halifax Historical Museum, Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, Atlantic Center for the Arts, plus performing arts that include the state´s only professional musical theatre group, Seaside Music Theatre, the Florida International Festival, Daytona Beach Symphony Society and more. The area´s eco-tourism offerings are equally impressive with the Marine Science Center, Gamble Place at Spruce Creek and Tomoka State Park all located in the area immediately around Daytona Beach.

Additional Information and Images can be found at www.moas.org/pressroom.

Address: 352 S. Nova Road - Daytona Beach,
Florida 32114
phone: (386) 255-0285