Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia
The Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia (Cerezales Antonino and Cinia Foundation or FCAYC) is a Spanish private institution located at Cerezales del Condado in the province of León. Founded in 2008 on the initiative of Antonino Fernández Rodríguez, who was born and raised there, the foundation focuses on the development of the territory and the transfer of knowledge through the production of culture and ethno-education. The disciplines around which it articulates its activities include music, art, the environment, sociology and the economy. History. In 1949, Antonino Fernández Rodríguez, who was born in Cerezales del  Condado and emigrated to Mexico joined the Grupo Modelo, holding various positions in the company and being appointed CEO in 1971. He continued to run the brewery group until 1997, and was chairman of the board until 2005. In parallel with his business career, Antonino Fernández has been very active in philanthropic ventures, and in 2008 he founded the Fundación Cerezales Antonino y Cinia with the aim of facilitating access to culture in the place that was home to so many generations of his family. Having established the foundation with an initial capital of 3.5 million euros, Antonino signed an  agreement with the Neighbourhood Council of Cerezales del Condado to convert the old school buildings to house the foundation, as a venue for concerts, performances, workshops and a wide range of other activities. This was one of a number of initiatives that Antonino has undertaken in the area, including the rehabilitation of the church and improvements to local infrastructure. Mission. The core objectives of the Foundation are the promotion of the critical capacity and the transformative potential that every society possesses by actively facilitating access to culture and education. Addressed from the local context, these objectives are pursued by way  of alternative approaches to revitalizing the Cerezales region and to alleviating — through education, culture, arts and crafts — rural depopulation and isolation and to integrating the discourses that affect rural life into the same line of action as the discourses on the contemporary. The forms of action for achieving these objectives include various programmes and seasons, always within the perspective of the continuity of the research work in the medium and long term, embodied in exhibitions, workshops and working groups, among others. The forms of action are: Headquarters. The Foundation is based in the old school buildings of Cerezales del Condado , constructed in 1931 and restored in 2009 with a major reorganization of the interior to accommodate activities of all kinds. The result is a multipurpose space whose design allows it to be used as an exhibition gallery, an auditorium with stage, a classroom and administration offices, depending on the arrangement of its partitions. In the landscaped area next to the building are three sculptures belonging to the foundation's collection of public art: "Maternity" by Castorina Fe Francisco, "Whisper in Time" by Tadanori Yamaguchi, and "Large Goat" by Eduardo Arroyo. In view of the public response and the growing number  and variety of activities, taking in areas such as music, the visual arts and education, the foundation saw the need to increase the capacity of its facilities. The fruit of this is a new building, designed by the architecture firm of Alejandro Zaera and Maider Llaguno and constructed between 2014 and 2016. This is a free-standing building of five bays under a pitched roof — an archetype of rural architecture — in the upper part of the Foundation's plot of land. The construction is predominantly of wood, with a structural frame and walls of larch from the Pyrenees, and was  designed and built as a zero energy. It has an innovative energy programme based on three sources of renewable energy — geothermal, biomass and phase-change material — developed by the Atres80 engineering firm. The facilities include an exhibition space, an auditorium, classrooms and rehearsal rooms, a documentation centre, laboratories, a lobby for multiple activities and management offices. Construction of a small nature classroom on the adjacent plot is currently under way and due to be completed in 2016. Activity seasons. The development of the foundation's activities is articulated in various seasons of different durations: Projects. Some of the projects developed  by the Foundation are: Exhibitions. Of note among the exhibitions organized by the Foundation are: