New works across Miami and beyond invite us to restore our bay, confront hate, and lead with creativity and courage.
“The Seahorse Society”
Restoring the Bay, One Action at a Time
On his birthday, September 13th, 2025, artist and Cortada Foundation Artistic Director Xavier Cortada unveiled his new permanent ceramic tile mural, “Seahorse,” in Crandon Park on Key Biscayne, FL and launched the “Seahorse Society” — a participatory eco-art initiative mobilizing South Floridians to protect Biscayne Bay’s seagrass ecosystems.
The project, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves, connects everyday choices on land to the health of the water that surrounds us. It invites residents to take tangible, measurable eco-actions that reduce pollution and restore balance. Through participatory art, the Seahorse Society transforms environmental challenges into opportunities to lead, connect, and safeguard the Bay.
ALERT:
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center, the very site that hosts this new work — and long home to Cortada’s eco-art projects (Reclamation Project, SHIT SHOW, and Pancho) — educates thousands of children each year, yet is now facing eviction after a lease dispute with Miami-Dade County. Please help protect this vital educational and environmental resource by signing the petition below:
“The Air Between Us”
Honoring Matthew Shepard,
Confronting Hate
This October 6th–12th, as the nation remembers the week of Matthew Shepard’s murder, Cortada invites the public to participate in “The Air Between Us,” a ritual of remembrance and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and all who have suffered violence or hate.
Performed at the site in Laramie, Wyoming where Shepard was left to die on October 7th, 1998, the act releases flowers into the wind, transforming grief into compassion and filling the air where hate once lingered with dignity and love. The video and instructions guide participants on how to perform the same gesture wherever they are.
“From Rising Seas to Rising Leaders”
Keynote at Leadership Miami
On September 6th, 2025, Xavier Cortada delivered the keynote address for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Miami program at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex. In his presentation, “From Rising Seas to Rising Leaders: Art as a Call to Action,” Cortada challenged the city’s emerging changemakers to lead with creativity, courage, and community at the heart of their work.
Drawing from his decades of civic leadership and socially engaged art practice, he inspired participants to see leadership as a collective, creative response to Miami’s climate and equity challenges. His keynote and Q&A sparked a powerful dialogue on how the next generation of leaders can unite imagination and action to shape a more resilient and inclusive future for Miami.
“The Underwater” Surrounds Dear Everything at Miami Beach Bandshell
On September 28th, 2025, the Cortada Foundation joined Tony Award–winner V (formerly Eve Ensler), director Diane Paulus, and Grammy-nominated songwriter Justin Tranter on the Host Committee for Dear Everything: A Musical Uprising for the Earth at the Miami Beach Bandshell. Before the performance, attendees encountered a site-specific art installation of Cortada’s Underwater Elevation Markers encircling the venue and were invited to customize their own signs, growing the climate action campaign.
Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo Honors Cortada During Hispanic Heritage Month
On September 17th, 2025, Cortada was featured in Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo Hispanic Heritage Month series, “Conservationists in Action.” Speaking with students and conservation leaders from across the country, Cortada shared how his Endangered World project connects art, science, and personal responsibility to confront biodiversity loss. Through stories of his polar installations and community-based art, he invited audiences to see conservation as a shared cultural duty rooted in empathy, heritage, and the creativity that binds all life on Earth.
NEWS
Redefining Public Scholarship: Xavier Cortada’s Art as a New Model for Civic Dialogue and Climate Action
Charles Bazerman, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California Santa Barbara who specializes in writing studies, reflects on how Cortada’s project, The Underwater, transforms the abstract crisis of sea level rise into intimate civic experiences. Bazerman observes that by literally placing elevation markers on homeowners’ lawns, Cortada collapses the distance between science and self-awareness, making climate change personal, visible, and local. His piece situates Cortada’s work within a new model of public scholarship and community art, where creative practice becomes a framework for democratic problem-solving.
THROWBACK
20 Years Ago | 2005
Xavier Cortada, Music, acrylic on canvas, 60” x 96”, 2005.
In 2005, Cortada created the official cover artwork for Festival Miami, the University of Miami’s internationally recognized music festival. Commissioned by the Frost School of Music specifically for the event, his painting captured the energy of music through bold, colorful instruments floating against waves and a vibrant sky. That year, Festival Miami presented 23 outstanding concerts over five weeks, ranging from strings to swing to bossa nova, bringing world-class music to South Florida audiences. Cortada’s artwork was featured throughout the festival’s materials, serving as a vibrant emblem of its season and celebrating the community’s creative spirit.
Signed, numbered, limited-edition prints of this painting are available, with all proceeds benefiting the Cortada Foundation.