Art That Sculpts Communities: Xavier Cortada's Climate Social Practice

In this episode of Climate Shifted, host Eva Frye speaks with Xavier Cortada, a socially engaged environmental artist and Florida Artist Hall of Fame member. He creates participatory art projects transforming how communities understand and respond to the climate crisis. 

Xavier shares how his "Underwater Homeowners Association" project used lawn signs showing home elevation levels to make sea level rise personally relevant to inland residents, how he strategically uses art to invite curiosity rather than confrontation, and how he builds coalitions with local institutions to create lasting policy change. 

Learn how his approach to "social practice art" sculpts people instead of clay, makes topics personal to bypass political polarization, and discover how anyone can get started doing projects like this in your own communities.

Transcript available here

Key Topics

• Using "social practice art" to create community climate engagement
• Making abstract climate threats personally relevant through art
• Designing art experiences that invite curiosity rather than confrontation
• Building strategic partnerships with municipalities, schools, and nonprofits
• Creating platforms for civic engagement beyond awareness
• Moving from individual action to policy change
• Balancing different communication approaches for different audiences
• Starting with personal passion rather than waiting for permission
• Finding sustainable motivation through love rather than fear

Quotes

"Art allows you to see things differently, but it also allows you to behave differently. And you then model to those who aren't part of the process, how they too can do the same thing." - Xavier Cortada

"My way in was the yard sign. What's this weird number doing in my neighbor's front yard? And then that curiosity allows you to understand that you have a vulnerability, that it's not someone else's problem, it's your problem." - Xavier Cortada

"What I try to do is journey into this land called hope, and art gets us there." - Xavier Cortada

"At the end of the day I'm not trying to change human behavior. I'm trying to change the policies that allow corporate interests to exploit people and to extract from our environment." - Xavier Cortada

People & Organizations Mentioned

• Xavier Cortada - Socially engaged environmental artist and Florida Artist Hall of Fame member
• Underwater Homeowners Association - Community organization created through Cortada's art project
• Cortada Foundation - Organization founded to scale Cortada's climate art approach
• Natural Resources Defense Council - Environmental organization that partnered with Cortada on the Blake Plateau project
• Joseph Beuys - Pioneering social practice artist mentioned as an influence

Notable Art Installations Discussed

• Underwater Homeowners Association: A participatory art project where residents displayed signs showing their home's elevation above sea level, transforming abstract sea level rise data into personal concerns about property values and flood insurance.
• Elevation Markers: Street paintings showing elevation levels at intersections throughout Miami, demonstrating how even areas miles inland were vulnerable to sea level rise.
• Park Elevation Sculptures: Vague concrete sculptures with QR codes in parks that, when scanned, revealed the park's elevation and sea level rise projections.
• Reclamation Project: An installation where mangrove seedlings were displayed in water-filled cups on retail storefronts throughout Miami Beach, revealing the area's history as a mangrove forest before development.

JUICY BITS: Takeaways for Climate Communicators

1. Believe in yourself: Understand that you have a voice and role in delivering the future you want. Combat imposter syndrome - if you doubt yourself, you've already lost.
2. Believe in others: Recognize you can't create change alone. Value the unique perspectives and skills others bring and believe they too have a seat at the table.
3. Don't give up: Persist even through difficult challenges. Continue pushing forward when questioning if the work is worth it, especially when trying to change entrenched systems.
4. Make climate personal: Transform abstract global issues into immediate local concerns that connect to what people already value (like property values or flood insurance).
5. Invite curiosity over confrontation: Create experiences that spark questions rather than forcing information, allowing people to discover climate issues through their own inquiry.
6. Build platforms for agency: Move beyond awareness to give people tools and spaces for collective action, connecting concerned citizens with relevant experts and policymakers.

Call to Action

• Subscribe to Climate Shifted wherever you listen to podcasts
• Follow @climateshifted on all social media platforms
• Share this episode with friends interested in climate communication
• Check out Xavier Cortada's work at cortadafoundation.org
• Consider how you might make climate issues visible and personal in your own community

Credits

• Executive Producer & Host - Eva Frye
• Technical Producers - Mateus Salgado
• Audio engineer - Gianna Scioletti
• Project management - Sarah Clayton
• Advisers - Ryan Shuken, Ashley Chapman, Chris Clark
• Nature sounds from bbc.co.uk – © copyright 2025 BBC