In a bid to confront the looming climate crisis head-on, local artist Xavier Cortada has launched “The Underwater,” an interactive art exhibition that has taken over parts of Miami-Dade during the bustling Miami Art Week 2023.

 Sponsored by a $100,000 Knight Foundation grant, the project selects front yards across the county to host signs that literally underscore Miami’s increasing vulnerability to sea-level rise, aiming to spark urgent discussions and encourage community action on climate change, according to the press release.

“The Underwater” is putting down stakes—quite literally—with eye-catching installations along Ocean Drive and by the Adrienne Arsht Center.

this initiative is drawing in passersby from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily during Art Week, which runs from December 5 through December 10. Miami-Dade County’s commitment to addressing climate issues took on a new creative dimension when they appointed Cortada, known for his environmentally centric artwork, as the artist-in-residence in 2022, an inaugural position meant to merge art with ecology.

During the close of Art Week, Cortada is set to lead a public conversation on climate solutions, hosted at Moonlighter FabLab Miami Beach. The event, penciled in for December 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., promises to bring together artists, activists, and residents to brainstorm on resilience and sustainability. “I am proud to see our very own Miami-Dade artist-in-residence Xavier Cortada’s interactive art campaign front and center during Miami Art Week,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told the press in a statement that rings with municipal pride and an urgent call to climate action