On October 25, 2023, Xavier Cortada was selected as a winner of #TheEllies to expand his project “Underwater Florida” to communities across the state. 

Using socially engaged art to forge a deep connection between residents and the pressing issue of climate change, during 2024 he will visit some of the coastal communities he originally “mapped” two years earlier.

Specifically, in 2022, artist Xavier Cortada creatively revealed the state of Florida’s climate vulnerability by traveling to 54 coastal city halls and painting a sign at each, depicting their respective elevations above sea level.By installing these signs at the very places where city officials make decisions about municipal budgets, as well as land use, planning and zoning, Cortada made visible the threat that sea level rise poses to each city’s future tax base.

Cortada’s grant will bring him to some of those communities, inspiring and empowering locals to actively engage in finding solutions.  His grant was among the $500K in grants Oolite Arts awarded to artists and art teachers through the Ellies, Miami’s Visual Arts Awards.

You can learn more about Cortada’s project and that of his fellow recipients at TheEllies.org.