Mangroves
by Xavier Cortada

Xavier Cortada, “Roots C,” acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 36″, 2007 (www.cortada.com)

Five years ago Miami artist Xavier Cortada brought awareness to the importance of mangroves by launching the Reclamation Project at the Bass Museum of Art. Annually, the eco-art project’s volunteers collect mangrove propagules, grow them for several months inside clear cups hanging on Lincoln Road store fronts (earlier site of a mangrove forest), and then plant the seedlings nearby on Biscayne Bay.

To celebrate eight acres of coastal reforestation to date, on December 10th, 2010, Union Credit Bank is hosting a reception to benefit the Reclamation Project.  Cortada’s paintings of the celebrated coastal plant will be on display, with proceeds from sales benefiting The Reclamation Project.

Several paintings from this series hang permanently in the newly inaugurated University of Miami Alumni Center; others are on loan to the residence of the US Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea as part of the State Department’s Art in Embassies program.

Xavier Cortada, “Cyan Roots 2“ acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 36″, 2006	Xavier Cortada, “Mangrove Roots“ acrylic on canvas, 48″ x 36″, 2006