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Artist-led 'Underwater' project pitches climate-elevation sculptures and school outreach in Coconut Creek
Summary
Adam Roberti of the Cortada Foundation presented 'The Underwater' — a county-level public art and engagement initiative that uses elevation markers, sculptures with QR codes and school programs to raise sea-level awareness and spur local climate adaptation conversations.
Adam Roberti, executive director of the Cortada Foundation, told the Coconut Creek City Commission on April 24 that the foundation's Underwater project — a public-art, science and engagement initiative developed by artist Xavier Cortada — is expanding across South Florida and seeks partnerships with local governments, schools and resilience and public art staff.
Roberti described several project elements: intersection murals and yard signs that mark elevation in feet above sea level; permanent elevation sculptures with embedded QR codes that link to online resources; wrapped buses and ceramic tile murals already installed in Broward County; and school programs that bring assemblies and student-created elevation yard signs to classrooms. He said the project uses art to make climate change personal, for example, by letting residents scan a QR code to "Find Your Elevation" and see how sea-level projections relate to their own homes.
Roberti emphasized three local risks: stronger hurricanes as oceans warm, population migration pressures as coastal areas are affected, and salinization of the Biscayne Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to many communities in the region. He noted Xavier Cortada's prior work (including a Miami-Dade County artist-in-residence appointment and Antarctic artwork) and that the project teams with the University of Miami College of Engineering on sustainable-concrete prototypes for permanent sculptures.
Cortada Foundation work in Broward includes school visits at a dozen public schools, bus wraps, and a recent county installation of a large numeric elevation sculpture at the Broward County Government Center. Roberti invited Coconut Creek staff to collaborate on a planned visit to Coconut Creek High School in about a month and suggested working with the city's resilience or public art departments to bring some project elements to local parks, intersections and schools.
No formal action was taken; the presentation was a request to explore partnership options. Commissioners thanked Roberti and expressed interest; Commissioner Welch arranged the introduction that brought the foundation to the meeting. Roberti said the foundation would follow up with staff to discuss next steps.
