Runner Up
BIO
Xavier Cortada has created art installations at the North Pole (as a NYFA sponsored artist, 2008) and South Pole (through the National Science Foundation, 2007) to help address environmental issues at every point in between. In 2006, Cortada developed the Reclamation Project to engage South Florida residents in the reforestation of local areas. In 2009, he is participating in environmental art residencies in The Netherlands and Quebec, see: http://www.xaviercortada.com/events/event_list.asp.
The Miami artist has been commissioned to create art for the White House, the Florida Supreme Court, Miami City Hall, Miami-Dade County Hall, the Museum of Florida History, the Miami Art Museum, and the Frost Art Museum. Cortada’s work is also in the permanent collection of The World Bank. Cortada is also known for his international collaborative public art projects. These include International AIDS Conference murals in Switzerland and South Africa, peace murals in Northern Ireland and Cyprus, and child welfare murals in Bolivia and Panama.
Cortada, who was born in Albany, New York and grew up in Miami, holds degrees from the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School of Business and School of Law. For more information visit www.cortada.com or see attached bio and resume.
The Markers
Cortada planted 51different colored flags on the moving ice sheet that covers the South Pole, each 10 meters apart and marking where the South Pole stood during each of the past 50 years (when humans first inhabited the South Pole). Each flag also displayed the coordinates of the location on the world above where an important event that took place during that year. Please click on image to read the list of historic events that have moved the world forward during the past five decades.
The 150,000-year Journey
Cortada planted an ice replica of a mangrove seedling on the moving ice sheet that blankets the South Pole. Embedded in the ice, the seedling will move 10 meters a year in the direction of the Weddell Sea, 1400 km away. In 150,000 years, the seedling will arrive at the coastline and theoretically set its roots.