Talking points for Xavier Cortada

Art has the power to convene, to advocate and to mobilize, to inspire and awe, to enlighten and challenge, to transcend and transform.  Art, the universal language, can present ideas, provoke thought, and engender dialogue, generate awareness, and raise consciousness. 

Art serves as a catalyst for community and economic development when it beautifies communities, drives cultural tourism, develops audiences and promotes cross-cultural understanding.  Art is education.  Art  invites introspection, personal growth and intellectual advancement.  Art is a vehicle for prevention and wellness programs that promote self-expression, social interaction and pro-social bonding.  Art can heal, it is a therapeutic exercise.  Art has the power to give voice, especially to those who endure suffering or are otherwise marginalized.  Art is the imprint of our humanity.

As an artist, I’ve partnered with governmental, academic and cultural institutions to implement art projects advancing these goals (see below).  You can learn more about them by visiting http://www.cortada.com/projects

 I.  The arts and economic development, learning, and wellness.
 

Art in Economic and Community Development:

• World Bank mural:  Dreaming of a World Free of Poverty (Washington, D.C.)
• Centro Campesino:  Art by children of migrant workers (exhibits at Miami Youth Museum and Art Center/ South Florida)
• White House Minority Homeownership Conference: Stepping into the American Dream
• City of Miami:  Miami Riverside Garden (Flagler Bridge)/ Miami Mangrove Forest (I-95)

 

Art in Education:

• Miami Art Museum:  “I do hereby promise” mural with Little Havana students
• Miami-Dade Art in Public Places:  Master-Peace 2000 (using Internet technology)
• Lowe Art Museum:  Art as Power (with Cuban American National Foundation) and Little Haiti Murals (cross-cultural understanding/developing audiences)
• Hispanic Heritage Month murals unveiled by Governor at Florida Capitol
   

Art in Medicine and Prevention

• University of Miami School of Medicine: The History of Disabilities project
• American Cancer Society, Florida Chapter ROCK Camps
• Miami Lighthouse for the Blind – “to feel beauty without seeing it”
• The Alzheimer’s Mural—  ”victims memories and gifts captured in mural”
• MADD National Youth Summit Message Mural, Washington, D.C. (advocacy)
• Global Health Council Healthy Women, Healthy World
   

Art as Voice: 

• Miami-Dade Art in Public Places:  Juveniles in Adult Prison (Florida Supreme Court)
• University of Miami School of Law:  Foster children in residential psychiatric programs

• CDC Conference on Sexual Assault Prevention: Voices of sexual assault victims

• Painted Cuban Plane and Freedom Luggage Installation: Cuban exile messages
   

 

II. The arts and developing international community partnerships.
 

• La Paz and Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 1997 (Drug Prevention)
  Compartiendo con Bolivia, a special exhibit at Museo Tambo Quirquincho and Museo de Historia, Univ. Autónoma "Gabriel Rene Moreno" as well as a mural creating project sponsored by the United States Information Service, the Unites States Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia.  See http://www.cortada.com/projects/1997/bolivia.htm
  
   
• Geneva, Switzerland, 1998 (AIDS)
  Bridging the Gap collaborative mural with participants of the XII World AIDS Conference.  See http://www.cortada.com/aids
  
   
• Panama City, Chiriqui and Colon, Panama 1997 (Drug Prevention)
  Compartiendo con Panama, a special exhibit at the Universidad de Panama and mural creating project sponsored by the Florida International Volunteer Corps for Caribbean Action (FAVA/CA). See http://www.cortada.com/panama
  
   
• Durban, South Africa, 2000 (AIDS)
  Breaking the Silence collaborative mural with participants of the XIII World AIDS Conference.  At the Conference, USAID distributed 10,000 posters of a collaborative mural created with kids from a Washington, D.C. high school. See http://www.cortada.com/projects/2000/durban.htm
  
   
• Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2000 (Peace)
  Children's Friendship Project for Northern Ireland Mural created with Protestant and Catholic youth. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Cultural Affairs &  N. Ireland Department of Culture. See http://www.cortada.com/projects/2000/ireland.htm
  
   
• Cyprus, 2000 (Peace)
  Listen to the Children of the Green Island project, a US Embassy-sponsored mural created by Greek and Turkish Cypriot youth at the Fulbright Center on the United Nations Peace Keeping Force Buffer Zone (the Green Line), Nicosia, Cyprus.  See  http://www.cortada.com/projects/2000/cyprus.htm
  
   

Selected articles on art projects by Xavier Cortada:

Fair takes art to the street with outdoor exhibits, by Daniel Chang.  Published on December 3rd, 2004 in The Miami Herald (Miami, FL). See http://www.cortada.com/media/2004/art-basel-public-art.htm

Exiles' plane to symbolize Cuban thirst for freedom, by Elaine de Valle.  Published May 9, 2004 in The Miami Herald, Miami, FL.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/2004/exiles-plane-05-09.htm

Immortalized in Glass: Image of Florida’s first Catholic bishop now school mosaic, by Joan D. LaGuardia. Published April 25, 2004 in The News-Press, Ft. Myers, Florida.  See  http://www.cortada.com/media/2004/news-press.htm

Artist's brush brings court cases to canvas: Lawyer Xavier Cortada creates an exhibit specifically for the Supreme Court, by Jan Pudlow. Published March 15, 2004 in The Florida Bar News, Tallahassee, FL.  See  http://www.cortada.com/media/2004/fl-bar-news.htm 

Artistic Advocacy: Miami artist's canvas support social change.  Published Summer/ Fall 2003 in Latin Business Magazine (national circulation).  See http://www.cortada.com/media/2003/latin-business.htm

Florida Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month  -- Published October 2003 in the Florida Art and History Magazine, Tallahassee, FL.  See  http://www.cortada.com/media/2003/fl-hispanic-heritage-month.htm

Looking at what it means to be Latino, by Kamaharia Hopkins.  Published Saturday, November 2nd, 2002 in the Omaha World-Herald, Omaha, NE.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/2002/latino.htm

Artist Expresses Plight of Boys in a Man's Jail:   He Speaks Out Against the Law that allows Juvenile Offenders to be charged as adults, by Maya Bell.  Published Saturday, February 2, 2002 in The Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, FL.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/2002/artcare-orlando.htm

It Changed the Paradigm': Miami artist explores legacy of papal visit to Cuba three years ago, by Tom Tracy.  Published February 11, 2001 as the cover story in Our Sunday Visitor. (national circulation) See http://www.cortada.com/media/2001/sunday-visitor.htm

High school students, local artist create Web master`peace', by Tanya Somaroo, Published Sunday, December 12, 1999 in The Miami Herald, Miami, FL.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/1999/master-peace2000.htm

Artist's Interactive WebSite mines chat rooms for the muses, by Liz Balmaseda. Published April 10, 1999 in The Miami Herald, Miami, FL.  See http://www.cortada.com/webstudio/archives/inaugural/webstudio-balmaseda-column.htm 

AIDS mural echoes patients’ pleas, hope: Miami artist’s mural an international appeal for help, by Lydia Martin. Published July 4, 1998 in The Miami Herald, Living and Arts, Miami, FL.
See http://www.cortada.com/media/1998/aidsarticle.htm

A New Breed of Artist, by Tananarive Due. Published February 7, 1998 in The Miami Herald, Living and Arts, Miami, FL.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/1998/newBreed.htm

The Healing Powers of Paint by Antonio Aruquipa. Published October 16, 1997 in Bolivian Times, La Paz, Bolivia.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/1997/bolivianTimes.htm

Arts can heal, says crusading Cuban, by Christina Stucky. Published October 14, 1994 in The Star, Trends, Johannesburg, South Africa.  See http://www.cortada.com/media/1994/THE_STAR.HTM