Media Alert

MIAMI INVITED TO SEE XAVIER CORTADA’S ECO-ART AND CELEBRATE AN END TO MIAMI ART WEEK

WHO:
Miami eco-artist, Xavier Cortada

WHAT:
Opening reception for the Eco-art Colonnade and Flower Force solo exhibition

WHEN:
Opening Reception: Friday, December 3, 2021 at 1-3 p.m. 
Dedication of Eco-art Colonnade at 2 p.m.
Flower Force exhibition runs through Friday, January 7, 2021

WHERE:
Hibiscus Gallery at Pinecrest Gardens, where Cortada serves as artist-in-residence.
Pinecrest Gardens is located at 11000 SW 57th Ave, Pinecrest, FL 33156.

WHY:
To close out celebrations from Miami Art Week, local artist Xavier Cortada invites the community to join him at Pinecrest Gardens for an afternoon with art and mimosas. Cortada will dedicate an interactive, 200-foot long “Eco-art Colonnade,” a permanent exhibition of his most important socially engaged eco-art projects, and lead guests in participating in one of the nine featured projects. 

The “Eco-art Colonnade” serves as a platform for community members, families, and children to learn about critical environmental issues impacting South Florida, participate in a range of ongoing eco-art initiatives, and ultimately discover how they can help to protect people and the planet. 

“We are so honored to house this incredible artist in our gardens and cultural arts park,” said Alana Perez, Director of Pinecrest Gardens. “This innovative, interactive living exhibition is a true gift to our community and to those in the future who will benefit from the eco-actions it will generate.”

Cortada asks visitors to participate in his nine eco-art projects by having them adopt endangered animals, plant native wildflower gardens, pledge eco-actions, mark their homes’ elevation above sea-level, plant salt-tolerant native trees, and write short letters to someone in the future.

“At a time when our environmental future looks so bleak, it is heartening to share ways in which we can each take individual action to make a difference,” said Cortada. “These participatory eco-art projects aim to inspire and engage our community members to become protagonists in the fight against global climate change and rising seas.”

Back in the Hibiscus Gallery, guests can learn about his most recent work, “Flower Force,” and his long-term exploration of using art to engage communities in action on climate change. This exhibition showcases the importance of wildflowers and how the artist blurs the lines between public and private to catalyze a collective reimagining of what public art is and can be. 

At a roundabout in Palmetto Bay, Cortada’s sphere sculpture clad in ceramic flowers serves as the heart of a participatory effort where 200 families made a commitment to reforest native wildflower habitats. By planting a coreopsis, the state’s wildflower, alongside a unique, blue, hand-made ceramic sculpture in their front yards, participants are able to further discussions with their friends, family, and neighbors on saving pollinators, conserving water, decreasing the use of pesticides, and protecting ecosystems across South Florida.

MORE:
To join Xavier Cortada for the opening reception, art and mimosas, please RSVP at https://bit.ly/XCartweek21.

Learn more about the Eco-art Colonnade: https://cortada.com/ecoartcolonnade/
Learn more about Flower Force: https://cortada.com/flowerforce/
Learn more about Cortada: https://cortada.com/artist/