Communing with the Everglades brings inspiration to AIRIE artists

Miami Herald

6 days ago

With its efforts to bring the art and environment closer together since 2001, the non-profit Artists in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE) has not only grown in size, but in depth.
Each year, the organization selects approximately 12 artists to be part of their residency program. The residency lasts for one calendar month, where artists stay in a cabin within the Everglades National Park. Every morning, they see the sunrise over the Everglades and experience the sunset. The hope is to inspire the creation of something beautiful.
This season, AIRIE is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The celebration comes in the form of new programming throughout the year as well as an extended residency program featuring 18 fellows instead of the usual dozen. T
'We've also grown in terms of what we're trying to say, which is around creating an affirming space for artists to come and engage with the environment,' says Tracey Robertson Carter, AIRIE's acting director. 'We want to encourage the use of the arts around the challenges that we face every day in our, in our precious environment, and particularly that in South Florida.'
The most recent open call for AIRE garnered over 500 applicants, more than any other year, says Carter. While the selection process is lengthy and tough, the director admits it's also wholly inspiring. 'I love reading in the application about what the residency can be,' she says.
Carter mentions one incoming fellow, musician Thandeka Mfinyongo from Cape Town, South Africa, who works with ancestral instruments and sounds. 'She's bringing her ancestral instruments here and wanting to create new sounds in our Florida environment. (Reading in her application) what that would mean to the sound, what it might mean to her connection back to her ancestry, it's projects like that you just can't help but be in awe.'
Artist residents are given one month to stay on property within the Everglades and given the freedom to create. There is also a stipend for expenses and exclusive access to the national park. Their singular mission is to take inspiration from their surroundings and apply it to their practice.
'We really look at it as a research residency,' says Cornelius Tulloch, global artistic director for AIRIE and former fellow himself. 'The artists' only commitment is to be in the park, engage with the community, and to do one public programming, which could be a talk, a walk, or some other kind of format where we meet the artists… we aren't afraid to allow the artists to be artists.'
Tulloch was part of the 2022 AIRIE cohort and was so inspired, he stuck around. 'I think that's the beauty of doing AIRIE,' he says. 'No matter what you thought you'd come in with, you leave with so much more.'
Throughout his time with AIRIE, Tulloch has become a pseudo-Everglades influencer, he quips. He went from posting pictures of art and fashion to posting about the national park. 'I feel like for a lot of people, it's that kind of literal fact of representation like, how do I exist in this space?'
Tulloch's social media feed inspired fellow artist and friend, Daveed Baptiste. The Haitian-American textile artist and photographer never really saw himself in an environment like the Everglades. That is, until he saw Tulloch's posts. He was inspired and applied to AIRIE. Baptiste will begin his residency at the Everglades National Park in March 2026.
'I just remember seeing footage for like a whole month,' says Baptiste of his friend Tulloch. 'He was posting in the Everglades, like the swamp and trails.'
Based in New York City, Baptiste grew up in Miami and shares that he's been searching for an opportunity that would bring him home. 'Miami is where I discovered art… I feel like Miami is the soul of my practice.'
When it comes to his residency, the photographer plans on hosting multiple photoshoots among the trees and water.
'When you look up the Everglades, you didn't really see a lot of Black folk in the (attraction) videos or photos. There's this large absence of Black folks. And so during my time there, I'm going to be looking at how visual culture shapes our perception of who has access to the Everglades… and I will be hosting the most fabulous photo shoots with beautiful Black families, friends, queer people, and kind of just presenting this Black Utopia within the river of grass,' says Baptiste.
Another Miami native and incoming fellow is Lee Pivnik. The young artist has been applying to the residency on-and-off since 2016. His upcoming residency in September is a dream come true. He lists a handful of growing ideas he has for his one month in nature.
'I'm so excited for September,' shares Pivnik. 'I have two ongoing projects right now that are very Everglades focused and inspired. I'll be thinking about how the Everglades holds all of these histories and stories of trauma, survival, neglect, and then resurgence.'
Pivnik adds, 'I'm hoping to really use the experience to produce materials and ideas that'll continue to feed my practice.'
In addition to Baptiste, Pivnik, Mfinyongo and Rook, this season's fellows include Ashia Ajani (Denver, Colo.), The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker (who works within the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University), Shenny de Los Angeles (Kissimmee, Fla.), Sarah Doerfel and Vincent Scheers (Munich), Samuel Dominguez (London), Laurena Finéus (New York, N.Y.), Havîn Hât (Germany), Julius Karoubi (Oslo, Norway), Bex McCharen (Miami), Jewel Rodgers (Nebraska), Ackeem Salmon (Detroit), Jean Shin (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Sheherazade Thénard (Miami) and Coco Villa (Queens, N.Y.), and David Rahahę•tih Webb (Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina).
Board president Zoë McKenzie has been with AIRE for two years and sees her role as bridging a connection between the organization and the community.
'The folks that are in this cohort have already begun to intersect their point of view and experience and influence with their fellow participants,' says McKenzie. 'They are already building an incredible legacy and network that will go from South Florida, from AIRIE and the Everglades, and beyond.'
If you go:
WHAT: Artists in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE)
WHERE: Everglades National Park, Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center, 40001 State Highway 9336, Homestead
INFORMATION: [phone] or airie.org.
ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music and more. Don't miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com