The “Plan(T)” eco-art exhibition will feature documentation of a socially engaged art project. Using videos, photos, objects and text, the art exhibition will showcase contributions by “Plan(T)” participants (e.g., stories, artwork on flags, etc.) as a way of inspiring others to utilize creativity in problem-solving. Visitors will see how art piqued curiosity and taught individuals to work in an interdisciplinary way (climate science, performance and visual arts) to address important issues (e.g., social and environmental concerns) that impact current and future inhabitants of Miami-Dade County.

The goal of the exhibition is to use art as a conduit to a better understanding of oneself, one’s connection to the other, and one’s connection to our planet. Importantly, this exhibition aims to draw on another connection – engaged art as a catalyst for further cultural exploration, inviting visitors to explore cultural riches in the garden and across Miami-Dade County. Through this process, the exhibition also aims to reframe the way residents envision their community in the decades ahead. In a future characterized by rising seas and saltwater intrusion into the Biscayne Aquifer, salt-tolerant plants will survive while the majority of South Florida’s landscaping and agriculture will fade away.  

In “Plan(T),” residents are asked to plant a mangrove propagule in their front yard alongside a white flag (with their current elevation above sea level and any message they want to portray) written across it. The tree functions both as a literal act against climate change, specifically sea level rise as the planting of mangroves promotes increased carbon sequestration, as well as a visualization of the growing problem. As the tree is nurtured and grows, so does the vulnerability of the area it resides in, the beauty of the tree juxtaposed with what its growth represents.