June 2013 – MBUS Open House

Artist joins FIU's College of Architecture + The Arts

Miami Artist Xavier Cortada joins FIU's College of Architecture + The Arts at Lincoln Road

Miami artist Xavier Cortada will serve as founding director of the Office of Engaged Teaching, Scholarship, and Creative Activities(ETSCA) at Florida International University’s College of Architecture + The Arts.

ETSCA will be located at FIU’s new space at 420 Lincoln Road, on South Beach and will offer an extraordinary level of hands-on experience for FIU students. FIU on Lincoln Road will open this fall.

“Xavier Cortada has deep roots in this community and a rich artistic background, which he will put to work for our dynamic students,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg.

Cortada is a Cuban-American painter, whose works have been exhibited in museums and other venues throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa. Cortada also is responsible for the creation of art installations at the North Pole and South Pole addressing environmental concerns. He has developed numerous collaborative art projects globally, including peace murals in Cyprus and Northern Ireland; child welfare murals in Bolivia and Panama; AIDS murals in Switzerland and South Africa; and eco-art projects in Holland, Hawaii and Latvia.

Cortada has been commissioned to create art for the White House, the World Bank, Miami City Hall, Miami-Dade County Hall, Florida Botanical Gardens, the Miami Art Museum, Museum of Florida History, Miami Science Museum and the Frost Art Museum at FIU.

“Art has the power to transform society,” said Cortada. “Because our community’s future is so dependent on the success of this public university, FIU’s College of Architecture + the Arts is the perfect place to continue developing my participatory art practice. I am thrilled to join the FIU family and look forward to working with students and faculty to harness the energy of South Beach and use art to build community.”

ETSCA was created by Dean of the FIU College of Architecture + The Arts Brian Schriner and will bring together various FIU offices, local governments, business leaders, students, alumni and faculty to further FIU’s commitment to cutting edge research and creative activities that will impact the health and sustainability of local and global communities. The new office is tasked with fully utilizing the talents of the faculty and students in the visual arts, performing arts, and design specialties to engage with the local South Florida community in collaborative problem-solving initiatives.

“The establishment of ETSCA will certainly prove to be of great benefit to not only FIU, but the entire local community,” said Dean Schriner. “Working with the City of Miami Beach and other partners in the area, Cortada will lead the College into a new area of full engagement with the community.”

About FIU:  Florida International University is one of the 25 largest universities in the nation, with more than 42,000 students. Nearly 130,000 FIU alumni live and work in South Florida. Its colleges and schools  offer more than 200 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations and law. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. The opening of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in August 2009 has enhanced the university’s ability to create lasting positive change in our community. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.

About the College of Architecture + The Arts:

Founded in 2006, the College of Architecture + The Arts is a vibrant and diverse community of scholars, educators, performers, and practitioners unified by a Worlds Ahead vision of excellence in arts, design, performance, and communication. With over 1300 majors in seven academic departments-Architecture, Art + Art History, Communication Arts, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Music, and Theatre-the College is proud to offer undergraduate and graduate students an intimate and nurturing atmosphere that offers opportunities for individual attention while promoting the creative spirit in the pursuit of knowledge and the cultivation of imagination, intellectual curiosity, and artistic expression.

Summer solstice
brings Aqua 

June 21st was the first day of summer. Change in season means time for rotation of Cortada’s “Four Elements” banners at the entrance of FIU’s Frost Art Museum. 

Summer = Aqua 

Fall = Aer 

Winter = Ignis 

Spring = Terra 

Above:
Xavier Cortada, “Aqua,” digital taperstry/sublimation dye on fabric, 40′ x 10′, 2008 (Public commission at Frost Art Museum, State of Florida Art in State Buildings)

Proclamation: "Distinguished Citizen of the City of Miami"

Proclamation

 

The City of Miami, Florida

Takes pleasure in honoring

Xavier Cortada

Creator of

The Four Nucleotides

An Artistic Representation of Life

The City of Miami extends to you this public recognition of your artistic genius and your genuine value to the elevation of our quality of life. We applaud the creativity shown through your recent artwork, The Four Nucleotides, in which you create a genuine stand of DNA representing the makeup of life itself.

In this age of profound change and exciting possibility, we need our artists, more than ever, to imagine the best future for us and to remind us of what is good and constant in our past.

We are pleased to pay the highest tribute to you for beautifying our city and increasing our recognition nationwide through your creations.

We are especially proud to honor the intense beauty, vibrancy and relevance of your fine art as exemplified in public monuments at venues across the country: The White House, The World Bank, Miami City Hall, Miami- County Hall, Miami Art Museum, the Museum of Florida History, and the Frost Art Museum.

In homes, schools and libraries, your creativity and wealth of vision enrich our culture and inspire a new generation of Americans to see life in a new and exciting ways.

On behalf of our residents and of our official governance, we are proud to honor you and herewith to proclaim you Distinguished Citizen of the City of Miami.

On this the tenth day of the month of March, 2011 in the City of Miami, Florida

Tomas P. Regalado, Mayor

Frank Carollo, Commission Vice Chair