The Cultural Foundation of Broward Announces Winner of 2006 Moretti Award


7/20/2006 1:19:01 PM


Ernestine Ray Receives Recognition at Annual ArtServe Encore Award Ceremony

BROWARD COUNTY, FL– The Cultural Foundation of Broward County recently named Ernestine Ray, as the winner of the coveted 2006 Moretti Award for Artistic Achievement.

Curator of the Old Dillard Museum in Fort Lauderdale and the President and Founder of Ancestral Legacies, Inc., Ernestine Ray has done an outstanding job establishing the Old Dillard Museum over the past fourteen years. The museum has grown and thrived under her leadership from programming a single room, to the current expansion of the entire 10,000 square-foot facility. Ancestral Legacies, Inc., founded in 1997 by Ray, is a not-for-profit organization that continues work in international cultural exchange.

Ray is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association of International Educators, the American Association of Museums, the National Art Education Association and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She holds three masters degrees and has completed doctoral work at New York University in Education in the Arts. Most recently, Ernestine Ray was appointed as a Commissioner on the Florida Historical Commission by Governor Jeb Bush.

Following in the words of her father “we must know who we are”— which prompted her early interest in Africa—she has lived in 44 countries, igniting her love affair with cultures. The legacy of her mother—“generosity of spirit costs nothing yet pays a lifetime of dividends,” has also impacted Ray as she has shared her generosity in services and has been honored by numerous awards for her community works, including: Distinguished Service in Support of the United Nations Award; Women of Distinction and the JM Family African American Achievers Award in the Arts.

For more information about the Moretti Award for Artistic Achievement, please visit the Broward Cultural Division website at www.broward.org/arts/foundation/moretti.htm.


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