- Xavier Cortada
Xavier Cortada (born 1964 in
Albany, New York ) is a Cuban-American painter residing inMiami ,Florida . His work has been exhibited in museums, galleries and cultural venues across the Americas, Europe, Africa and AntarcticaAt the
University of Miami , he was inducted into theIron Arrow Honor Society , the highest honor awarded at the university. Cortada holds three degrees from the University of Miami – a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Public Administration and Juris Doctor. The Cuban-American artist’s work and writings are preserved in the Xavier Cortada Collection of the University of Miami LibrariesCuban Heritage Collection . He has been honored in the Congressional Record and with Xavier Cortada Day Proclamations by the City ofMiami ,Miami Beach , andMiami-Dade County .Cortada has received numerous awards for his volunteer work, including the Millennium International Volunteer Award from the U.S. Department of State/USA Today (for his work in Spain, Portugal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya Tanzania, Colombia, Bolivia, Honduras and Guatemala) and the Florida International Volunteer Corps 1999 Outstanding Achievement Award (for his work in Costa Rica and Panama).
In February 2000, Cortada was invited by the Holy See to participate in the Vatican’s Jubilee Day for Artists and met Pope
John Paul II . In 2004, Mr. Cortada, a former alter boy, announced that he would no longer attend Mass until the Catholic Church changed its position on homosexuality, he felt he could no longer attend a church that discriminated against him.cite web |date=2004-10-11 |title=Gay Christians Becoming More Active in Liberal, Conservative Churches |last=Alter |first=Alexandra |url=http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=3985 |work=Miami Herald |accessdate=2007-05-20]In 2006, the artist received the National Champion for Children Award from the Child Welfare League of America.Cortada has created art for the
White House , theWorld Bank , theFlorida Supreme Court , and theMuseum of Florida History . In his hometown, Cortada’s commissioned work hangs in City Hall, County Hall, theMiami Children’s Museum , and the facade of the Juvenile Courthouse.Cortada has worked with groups across the world to produce numerous large-scale murals and community art projects, including: eco-art installations on Miami Beach, International AIDS Conference murals in Switzerland and South Africa, peace murals in Northern Ireland and Cyprus, and child welfare murals in Panama and Bolivia.
In 2007, as a recipient of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, he created site-specific installations at the South Pole.
References
External links
* [http://www.cortada.com/media/index.htm Media coverage of Xavier Cortada]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
