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Events: The Panel Discussion | The #MiamiSHITSHOW
- Press Release for Panel Discussion on September 20, 2018.
- Miami Waterkeeper: How to protect our waterways
- Department of Health issues a Beach Advisory on August 29, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
Contact Xavier Cortada, (305) 858-1323 and [email protected]
Jackie Kellogg, [email protected]
Shit Show: A Collaborative Artmaking Platform by Xavier Cortada on the Water Quality of Our Beaches
MIAMI, Fla. – Globally renowned artist Xavier Cortada is teaming up with the Biscayne Nature Center, Miami Waterkeeper, and local environmentalists and the public for SHIT SHOW, a collaborative artmaking event in two parts: A panel discussion at 5:30 pm on September 20th with scientists and policymakers exploring why exactly fecal bacteria is infecting our beach waters, and a performance march on October 6th at noon where participants bring their creativity (and homemade props) to express their frustration with the state of our beaches. Both parts will be held at the Biscayne Bay Nature Center, and volunteers will document the experiences and upload them to a digital platform as they progress. See https://cortada.com/event/2018/SHITSHOWpanel.
“This is my childhood beach. It should be a place that gives swimmers enjoyment, not diseases. Enough already! Let’s fix this problem.” said Xavier Cortada. “Through art, I want all of us to bring attention to this shit show of an environmental crisis: Parents shouldn’t be worried about their kids swimming up to their ears in shit.”
The waters surrounding Miami, both the open ocean as well as Biscayne, are ecologically and economically essential to the surrounding area, with over 80% of the approximately 14 million overnight visitors to Miami in 2013 visiting the beaches and/or participated in watersports and other water-based activities. Biscayne Bay-related recreation activities contributed over 10% to the total Miami economy, accounting for over $12 billion and over 130,000 jobs, and the waters also support a diverse assembly of marine organisms, including fish; dolphins, whales and manatees; sharks and sawfish; and seagrasses and corals. However, due to overdevelopment, industrial, commercial, and residential stormwater runoff, illegal (and legal) pollutant discharges, and perhaps most importantly, recurring leaks from Miami’s decaying wastewater infrastructure, Miami’s water quality is increasingly at risk. Sewage wastewater, particularly untreated wastewater, contains significant amounts of human pathogens that can cause a wide range of illnesses, or even death. For the past several months, Miami residents and visitors have been faced with frequent beach closures, as the Florida Department of Health has found dangerous levels of fecal indicator bacteria at popular beaches, effectively closing those beaches to the public.
“Too much of Miami-Dade County’s wastewater infrastructure is outdated and ineffective, and Miami’s residents and visitors are paying the price.” said Rachel Silverstein, Executive Director of Miami Waterkeeper. “And there is not nearly enough water quality monitoring on either the beaches or the Bay.” “If we cannot swim in the ocean, why live in Miami?” said Jacqueline
Kellogg, President of the Board of the Biscayne Nature Center. “It is just unacceptable, the notion that you can go to the beach and not be able to swim.”
SHIT SHOW aims to not only highlight the human health dangers afflicting the Bay, but also bring pressure on state and local governments to step up and respond to the problem by increasing monitoring of Bay waters and stormwater outfalls, repairing and upgrading wastewater infrastructure, enforcing water quality standards, and to implement a wastewater recycling program for the County that will clean wastewater to a standard where it can recharge wetlands and improve the health of the Bay.
Xavier Cortada’s science art practice is oriented toward social engagement and the environment. He has created art installations in the Earth’s poles to generate awareness about global climate change at every point in between. Locally he has engaged thousands of volunteers in participatory eco-art projects to reforest mangroves, native trees and wildflowers. His work is in the permanent collections of the Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), the NSU Museum of Art in Ft. Lauderdale, the Whatcom Museum, and the Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum.
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to environmental education and the encouragement of greater citizen participation in the protection of our natural environment.
Miami Waterkeeper is a South Florida-based non-profit whose mission is to protect South Florida’s watershed through citizen engagement and community action, ensuring swimmable, drinkable, fishable water for all. Through our work, we hope to ensure clean and vibrant South Florida waters and coastal culture for generations to come.