Fountainhead Arts selects Pachi Muruchu as the 2025 Fountainhead Arts Residency Prize recipient, in partnership with ZⓈONAMACO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 5, 2025 - Miami, FL. Fountainhead Arts, a preeminent Miami-based artist residency, and ZⓢONAMACO, Latin America’s leading art fair, announce Pachi Muruchu as the recipient of the 2025  Fountainhead Arts Residency Prize at the fair’s 21st edition. The award includes a 2026 residency fellowship to Fountainhead, where Muruchu will be immersed in Miami’s cultural landscape while establishing connections with the city’s curators, collectors, and arts professionals. Following the awards ceremony, Muruchu and Fountainhead’s associate director Nicole Martinez will be in conversation about Muruchu’s practice and plans for his Miami residency.

Muruchu was selected from a group of finalists chosen by Bernardo Mosqueira, the curator of ZⓢONAMACO’s EJES section, which welcomes proposals from younger galleries, hybrid spaces, and artist-run initiatives featuring presentations that span from one to three artists. For this year’s edition, Mosqueira sought to select artists exploring the relationship between art and freedom. Muruchu, represented by Micki Meng in New York, is an Ecuadorian painter whose work depicts the poetics, politics, objectives, and resistance that have occurred for centuries on Turtle Island. His images weave centuries of Indigenous storytelling and ecological knowledge with contemporary experiences.

“Fountainhead and ZⓢONAMACO’s partnership arises out of a desire to provide significant opportunities for emerging artists eager to gain traction in the United States market,” says Direlia Lazo, ZⓢONAMACO’s artistic director. “Fountainhead is increasingly recognized as an artistic discovery platform for global artists; one where curators can expand their network of promising young talent, and where artists can meet professionals who can shape the trajectory of their career.  We’re excited to offer this opportunity to Muruchu, who is at a pivotal point in their career and is eager to take advantage of the program’s connections.”

Founded in 2008, Fountainhead has hosted over 580 artists from 49 different countries, and countless U.S. cities to date. The residency affords artists critical time and space to research or make new works, and is focused on building relationships for artists during their time in residence while immersing them in Miami’s unique cultural and natural environment. In addition to roundtrip travel, living and working accommodations, and a $1,500 honoraria, artists complete studio visits, trips in the field, and opportunities to expand their audience through digital storytelling.

“We are beyond proud to present this award in partnership with one of the region’s most respected fairs and are delighted to introduce Pachi Muruchu as an up-and-coming young artist,” says Nicole Martinez, Fountainhead’s associate director. “Pachi’s career is just getting started and we are eager to see him take advantage of the residency and its unique approach.”
For more information or interviews, please contact Nicole Martinez at nicole@fountainheadarts.org or at +1-305-450-0414.

About Fountainhead

Fountainhead’s mission is to elevate the voices, visibility and value of artists in our society and make their work accessible in a welcoming and inclusive environment. Over the last 16 years, Fountainhead's programs have included its seminal artist residency program, local artists' studios complex and the county-wide open studios program Artists Open. Through the Fountainhead Residency,  Fountainhead has welcomed over 550 artists from 49 different countries and myriad national and international cities to Miami; its programs serve over 300 artists annually and welcome thousands of patrons to engage with their work each year. 

Major support for Fountainhead is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida Division of Arts and Culture, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation, the Arison Arts Foundation, and others. Learn more at fountainheadarts.org.

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