FIU College of Architecture + The Arts Artist-in-Residence, Xavier Cortada discussed his artistic process in creating works such as The Markers, Sequentia, In Search of the Higgs Boson, Flight of the Ibis, and the Four Elements at the Frost in his “Markings” lecture to FIU Honors College students enrolled in the Inhabiting Other Lives course taught by Gretchen Scharnagl. Cortada spoke about the artist’s processes involved in taking information from research to visualization to creation.

More about the course:
Gretchen Scharnagl, Visiting Artist Lecturer to The College of Architecture and the Arts (Art and Art History Department) and Honors College has created a semester long project within the Honor’s 2^nd year seminar, Inhabiting Other Lives, (co-taught by Ruben Garrote) in which the students are to research and explore the Miami River and it’s surroundings and to organize the information visually using visual art mapping techniques.  The student groups will create informed map-like artwork that will be displayed in GC Gallery at the end of the term.  There will be a selection process that will choose one group’s work to be made into three 30 foot high  by 20 foot wide banners and displayed on a new building about to be built along the Miami River by developer Alex Mantecon, an alumni of FIU’s Honors College and a member of their board.   The jury panel will be comprised of artists; including Gretchen Scharnagl and Xavier Cortada, the developers and City Officials and others.  In preparation of this collaborative effort, one guest from Honors College, Mary Lou Pfieffer, came to speak about the Miami Circle and one guest from CARTA, Xavier Cortada, came to speak of the artist processes involved in taking information from research to visualization to manufacture.  The developer, Alex Mantecon, chartered a river cruise in which the class from Honors College was joined by a class from the Art and Art History Department also taught by Scharnagl, called Collage and Assemblage, in hopes of creating dialogue between the students. The Art and Art History Department has also agreed to generously provided six days of studio access to the Honors students to accomplish this project.  If successful, FIU student artwork borne of a bridge between the community, Honors College, and Art and Art History will be showcased prominently.