June 2018 – Influencer

In this important election year, the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and Bradenton Herald want to drive a discussion on the important issues facing the Sunshine State. We’ve assembled a panel of 50 influential Floridians who will offer their views through the November elections. Meet our Influencers here and see how they responded to our initial question:
 
“What is the biggest single challenge our leaders must confront to secure a better future for Florida?”
Florida excels at avoidance. If an issue is too difficult or costly, government kicks it down the road for future politicians to tackle. It speaks to our culture of instant gratification that doesn’t understand the concept of sacrificing today to avoid suffering in the future.
 
Unfortunately, today, serious problem-solving tops Florida’s agenda. We need to develop an engaged and better-educated society, ensure that all Floridians have adequate mental and physical healthcare and equal access to justice, as well as address the myriad of environmental concerns facing this peninsula. Rising seas will swallow every single coastal community and decimate our economy.
 
We know the problems exist, but since they are presently invisible, legislators pay lip service to constituents by solving the simpler problems.
 
Perhaps, Florida can learn to govern by solving a complex future problem that’s also visible today: Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare. Children languishing in the state’s dependency and delinquency system embody our inability to better govern. What’s more important than actually rehabilitating and protecting our most vulnerable asset, our children? It’s our duty to solve the problem even if the return on our investment isn’t obvious in time for the next election cycle.
 
Xavier Cortada
Artist-in-Residence, Florida International University
 
CLICK HERE to learn more

Current Exhibition

{in water}

by
Xavier Cortada
 
at
Hibiscus Gallery
Pinecrest Gardens
11000 SW 57th Avenue
Pinecrest, FL 33156
 
Exhibition runs May 3 – August 3, 2018
 
 
Cortada collaborated with Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) scientists to better understand the impact of global climate change on our ecosystems. He portrayed the diatoms they collect in their samples from the River of Grass to learn more about how sea level rise and environmental degradation will impact South Florida in the century to come. The works in the {in water} exhibition are inspired by their scientific research.
 
CLICK HERE to learn more.

Upcoming Exhibitions

EPOCH

by
Xavier Cortada
 
at
Artistree Gallery
2095 Pomfret Road
South Pomfret, VT 05067
 
 
Closing reception: Saturday, July 14th, 5-7pm 
 
Exhibit Dates: June 26th – July 14th
 

90N

North Pole Installations
 
by
Xavier Cortada
 
at
Gulf Coast Gallery
Creative Pinellas
12211 Walsingham Road 
Largo, FL 33778 
 
Opening reception:
Sunday, June 28, 2018
 
Exhibition runs:
June 28 to August 26, 2018:
 
CLICK HERE for more.