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Mayor of 6th Largest City in Florida Signs Climate Action Pledge
CLIMA by Xavier Cortada celebrates with local elected officials the closing of 12 successful days of panels
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2015 12 11 CLIMA – Mayor Signs Climate Action Pledge
(Hialeah, Florida, December 11, 2015) – CLIMA – a solo art exhibit by Xavier Cortada addressing sea level rise and global climate change celebrates the closing of 12 successful days of performances and panels discussions with scientists and local leaders on Friday, December 11th at Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment.
To commemorate the well-received art exhibit, Mayor Carlos Hernandez has signed the Mayors’ Climate Action Pledge in support of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact and the Regional Climate Action Plan, joining four counties and 25 other South Florida cities such as Miami Beach, Hallandale Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise.
This pledge will be presented to Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, a supporter for actions addressing climate change, who will be the first presenter at Friday morning’s panel.
Following the panel, local students will take part in a Mock Trial by Jury with Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida Judge Shelley J. Kravitz acting as the trial’s judge to determine if human activity impacts climate change.
So far, CLIMA has created a great deal of buzz, receiving rave reviews by over 1800 visitors and the media. The exhibit was covered or featured by Telemundo, NBC 6, AmericaTeve, The New Tropic, Travel + Leisure, Miami New Times, The Miami Herald and the Huffington Post as a “not to be missed” Art Basel event. It was also covered by FIU News, and WSVN Channel 7. CLIMA is featured in the curated world-wide cultural festival on climate change ArtCop21.com, which aligns with the Paris Talks.
The CLIMA art exhibit started on November 30, 2015 and runs through January 29, 2016 at the Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment. The panel discussions have featured various scientists and local leaders such as Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin, Superintendent Carvalho, Chief Science Officer for the Patricia and Phillip Frost Science Museum, Commissioner Levine Cava and a World Health Organization doctor. All CLIMA events are free and open to the public.
For more information on the event, please visit cortada.com/clima. The 12 days of programmed panels, performance art and special events coincided with the 12 days of COP21 Paris Talks. All events may be watched live, or at a later time, at http://livestream.com/cityofhialeah/CLIMA/videos or from a link to this site on CORTADA.COM/CLIMA.
When: December 11, 2015, 10:00am
Where: Milander Center for Arts and Entertainment
What:
Climate Action Pledge signed by Mayor Hernandez is presented during CLIMA
CLIMA Panel “Paris Talks – Local Action”
Mock trial by Jury to determine if human activity impacts climate change with Judge Shelley J. Kravitz (Following panel)
Panelists:
Marilys Nepomechie, Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives, IDP Coordinator and Professor, FIU College of Architecture + The Arts, Moderator
Rebeca Sosa, District 6 Commissioner, Miami-Dade County Commission
Juliet Pinto, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, FIU
Susy Torriente, Assistant City Manager, Chief Resiliency Officer, City of Miami Beach
About the City of Hialeah
The City of Hialeah, incorporated in 1925, is the fifth largest municipality in Florida, serving over 233,000 residents living in approximately 20-square miles. Hialeah, located in NW Miami-Dade County, has a Hispanic population of over 94%. A working class community, Hialeah is viewed as an industrial city that continues to grow. “The City of Progress” as known to many, is home to many Cuban exiles. The City of Hialeah is a full service city offering quality and affordable services to residents of all ages and abilities. Hialeah is a vibrant, family oriented community marked by cultural heritage and traditions known for its myriad of mom and pop stores which productively compete against national retail and restaurant chains and franchises. The City of Hialeah is on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
About CLIMA
The CLIMA exhibit is presented by the City of Hialeah in partnership with Florida International University Sea Level Solutions Center (SLSC), Florida International University College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS), the Florida International University College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA), and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy –with special acknowledgement of the support from the Rauschenberg Residency/Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.
About the artist
Xavier Cortada serves as Artist-in-Residence for Florida International University’s College of Arts & Sciences School of Environment, Society and the Arts (SEAS) and FIU’s College of Architecture + The Arts (CARTA).
Cortada often collaborates with scientists in his art-making: Cortada used samples (and inspiration) provided by researchers in Antarctica to create his National Science Foundation-sponsored works there. He has also worked with a population geneticist on a project exploring our ancestral journeys out of Africa 60,000 years ago, with a molecular biologist to synthesize an actual DNA strand made from a sequence randomly generated by participants visiting his museum exhibit, and with botanists in eco-art projects to reforest mangroves, native trees and wildflowers. At CERN, Cortada worked with a physicist to develop a site-specific art installation and performance piece capturing the five search strategies which the CMS experiment has used to discover a new Higgs-like particle.
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, and eco-art projects in Taiwan, Hawaii, Holland and Latvia. Learn more at https://www.cortada.org