Xavier Cortada

Xavier Ignacio Cortada (born September 13, 1964, in Albany, New York) is an American eco-artist, public artist and former lawyer.

As a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program fellow and a New York Foundation for the Arts Sponsored Artist, Cortada created works at the North Pole and South Pole to generate awareness about global climate change.

He has worked with groups globally to produce collaborative art projects, including peace murals in Cyprus and Northern Ireland, child welfare murals in Bolivia and Panama, AIDS murals in Switzerland and South Africa, juvenile justice murals and projects in Miami and Philadelphia, and eco-art projects in Taiwan, Hawaii, and the Netherlands.

Cortada has also been commissioned to create art for CERN, the White House, the World Bank, Florida Botanical Gardens, Miami City Hall, Miami-Dade County Hall, the Florida Turnpike, the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, Museum of Florida History, Port Everglades, the Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, and at ten Miami-Dade Housing Authority sites.

Cortada was born in Albany, New York and was raised in Miami from the age of three, his parents both Cuban immigrants.

The Latino artist holds three degrees from the University of Miami: Bachelor of Arts, College of Arts and Sciences (1986), Master of Public Administration, Miami Herbert Business School (1991), and Juris Doctor, School of Law (1991).

At the University of Miami, he was inducted into the Iron Arrow Honor Society, the highest honor bestowed by the university.

Cortada was fascinated with mangroves early in his childhood upon taking family trips to Bear Cut Key in Key Biscayne, Florida.

The plant functions as a central theme to many of his socially engaged artworks and public art projects.

As an emerging artist, Cortada received support from Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council's Community Grants to implement art projects with organizations like Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami School of Law, Centro Campesino, Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, Citizens for a Better South Florida, Hands-on Miami, and Office of the Public Defender from 1997 to 2007.

The State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs’ Artist Residency grant helped him implement the Reach for the Future Miami-Dade Art in Public Places residency at Palm Springs Middle School in Hialeah, Florida in 1998.

The State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, Met-Life Foundation, Dade Community Foundation also provided support for his growing practice: Cortada served as artistic director of various efforts sponsored by Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, including Master Peace (a school-based art project in Miami-Dade County Public Schools) and PATH (Public Art Transforming Housing in Miami-Dade Housing Agency).

During that time, Cortada also volunteered with US embassies across four continents and implemented numerous international mural projects through grant awards and artist residencies.

He did so with the support of various entities, including the U.S. State Department and USAID.

With the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council/Art Center South Florida's New Forms Artists Grant awarded in 1999, he was able to implement the “WebStudio Project,” an Internet-based collaborative art project using two webcams and a live chat room.

In February 2000, invited by the Holy See, Cortada traveled to the Vatican to participate in the Jubilee Day for Artists and meet Pope John Paul II.

That summer, he was invited to Washington to create a mural for the White House Conference on Minority Homeownership—the president was one of the participants of his collaborative mural.

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: In 2007, as a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artist and Writer's Program Fellow, the artist used the moving ice sheet beneath the South Pole as an instrument to mark time; the art piece will be completed in 150,000 years.

In 2008, he planted a green flag at the North Pole to reclaim it for nature and launch an eco-art reforestation effort.

Cortada often collaborates with scientists in his art-making:

The Miami artist has worked with groups globally to produce numerous collaborative art projects, including peace murals in Cyprus and Northern Ireland, child welfare murals in Bolivia and Panama, AIDS murals in Switzerland and South Africa, juvenile justice murals and projects in Miami and Philadelphia, and eco-art projects in Taiwan, Hawaii, the Netherlands and Latvia.

Cortada has also been commissioned to create art for CERN, the White House, the World Bank, the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Governor's Mansion, Florida Botanical Gardens, Miami City Hall, Miami-Dade County Hall, the Florida Turnpike, Miami-Dade Housing Authority, the Frost Science Museum, Museum of Florida History, and the Frost Art Museum.

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, the Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum and the MDC Museum of Art + Design.

Corporations such as General Mills, Nike, Heineken, and Hershey's have commissioned his art.

Publishers like McDougal and Random House have featured it in school textbooks and publications.

His work has also been featured in National Geographic TV and the Discovery Channel.

Cortada's studio is located at Pinecrest Gardens where he serves as artist-in-residence, implements his participatory art projects and runs the Hibiscus Gallery.

The artist also serves on boards of various national, regional and local groups, including University of Miami Alumni Association, South Arts and the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council.

Cortada has created art in the North and South poles and across six continents and also leads a robust community-engaged art practice.

Some of his socially engaged works include: