ANNOUNCING THE FIRST ANNUAL ARCOS DORADOS LATIN AMERICAN PAINTING PRIZE

Arcos Dorados proudly announces the first year of the Arcos Dorados Latin American Painting Prize, to take place within the setting of arteBA´10, the 19th Contemporary Art Fair, which will be held from June 25 through 29 at La Rural convention center in the Palermo district of the City of Buenos Aires.

It is the first time a company is launching a competition on this scale, supporting and promoting in unprecedented fashion Latin America’s contemporary art production.

The Arcos Dorados Competition is choosing to encourage those artists who work in painting, challenging them to explore all the possibilities their medium offers. In this first time ever for the award, the competition is being designed specifically for the countries commemorating their bicentenary this year: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.

The curators called on to perform the difficult task of inviting just one artist from their country to present a new work at arteBA´10 were: Cecilia Brunson (Chile), Jesús Fuenmayor (Venezuela), María Iovino (Colombia), Victoria Noorthoorn (Argentina) and Guillermo Santamarina (Mexico).

The names of the five artists who will participate in the Fair and compete with one another for the public acquisition prize are: Víctor Florido (Argentina), Jaime Gili (Venezuela), Manuel Mathar (Mexico), Beatriz Olano (Colombia) and Gerardo Pulido (Chile).

The final decision will be in the hands of the public, which will be able, before and during the days of the Fair (via the web pages of McDonald’s and arteBA, and at the Arcos Dorados stand within the arteBA Fair), to vote for their favorite work among the five selected. The work that proves to be the public’s favorite will be awarded the acquisition prize of US$ 8,000 and become a part of Golden Arches’ art collection.

“Associating Arcos Dorados with a project like this strengthens our bond with art and with a region known for its cultural wealth and diversity. No doubt we aren’t just supporting the individual expression of these artists, but strengthening the identities of their countries -- identities those artists bolster,” said Woods Staton, president and CEO of Arcos Dorados.

In so achieving its objective, Arcos Dorados seeks to make this Prize a new annual framework for artists, art lovers and collectors in Latin America, extending the competition, in future years, to include the entire region.

About Arcos Dorados
Arcos Dorados is the largest operator of restaurants in Latin America, and the main franchise holder of the McDonald’s brand in the world. It is one of the 100 largest companies in Latin America, operating over 1,750 McDonald’s restaurants, 1,200 dessert shops and 200 McCafé’s in 19 countries (Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Ecuador, Guadalupe, French Guyana, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Thomas, Saint Croix, Uruguay and Venezuela) and provides consulting services in nine other markets in the region. It has over 100,000 employees, who serve 3.5 million customers a day. In addition to being one of the leading employers in the region, Arcos Dorados is recognized as one of the 25 best companies to work for and one of the leading employers of young people on their first job. In 2008, Arcos Dorados’s sales exceeded US$ 3.5 billion, the highest annual revenue the McDonald’s brand has ever achieved since opening its first restaurant in Latin America, in Puerto Rico, 42 years ago. Arcos Dorados has also extended its activities to the field of logistics, through Axis, a company with operations in Argentina, Chile, Venezuela and Mexico, with 500 employees and 150 clients.