WILLEMSTAD - The government has announced that the Cola Debrot Award for 2023 will be awarded to Mrs. Ellen Spijkstra for her outstanding contributions in the field of Visual Arts. Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports (ESKD) Mr. Sithree van Heydoorn, Director of the Culture and Sports Sector Mrs. Lizette Sambo-Velder, and a representative from the Cultural Council of Curaçao visited Mrs. Ellen Spijkstra to inform her of this news. 

The Cultural Council of Curaçao serves as an independent commission to select the winner of this prestigious award. This year, the Cultural Council of Curaçao presented Mrs. Ellen Spijkstra as the nominee for the award. The Council of Ministers ratified this proposal, and the Government of Curaçao extends its thanks to the Cultural Council of Curaçao for its tremendous work. 

The Cola Debrot Award is an annual award in the cultural field that the Government of Curaçao has been presenting since 1968 to an individual or organization that has made outstanding contributions in the field of the arts. Each year, a different category is chosen for the award, including Architecture, Visual Arts, Dance, Folklore, Literature, Music, Theater, and Science. This year, the award is being presented in the "Visual Arts" category. The Cola Debrot Award consists of a gold button representing the orange blossom, a certificate, and a sum of ANG 5000.00. 

Minister Van Heydoorn congratulates and thanks Mrs. Spijkstra for believing in Curaçao. Thanks to Mrs. Spijkstra for representing Curaçao with her art and talent in different countries around the world and for promoting the name of Curaçao in each country she has visited. Mrs. Spijkstra has contributed to building our country in a healthy way with her talent and positivity, and has helped guide a large part of our community to express themselves through different forms of visual art.