Art makes visible Miami’s present — and future— with climate change | Opinion

Art makes visible Miami’s present — and future— with climate change | Opinion

^{March 24, 2022
BY JUSTIN STOLER & JUANA VALDÉS}

The average adult human is about 60% water. One might say we literally embody water. In many ways, water also embodies us, our memories, our history and our
oceanic origins.

One of us, Juana, is a multi-disciplinary artist whose creations tell stories of Afro-Cuban migration through themes of race, class, gender and transnationalism. The other, Justin, is a global health researcher whose work amplifies the voice of those enduring the world’s most egregious health disparities.

“Thirst” is a new project by Juana Valdés, created in collaboration with Commissioner, a community-grounded art program that helps locals collect art by contemporary artists in their cities. “Thirst” juxtaposes the thirst for freedom, which drove many immigrants across dangerous waters to Miami, with Americans’ thirst for profits that has created high-priced luxury brands of bottled water.

Many would-be migrants seeking a better life across the sea perish during their voyage, a grim reality that continues to make headlines. Those lost at sea are, in a sense, not lost, but subsumed and embodied by the ocean. The same water that has formed our planet’s water cycle for all of human history remembers these parents, siblings and children. Water is, and has always been, a form of nature’s memory. With a grave irony, water — and all of these memories — has become an existential threat to Miami because of flooding and rising seas. Water increasingly is causing problems from above and below. Even when it doesn’t rain, rising groundwater levels affect commuting, housing equity and coastal construction. Some climate- change projects describe Miami as the most vulnerable city in the world.

Billions of people around the world also experience water insecurity as climate change, population growth and water mismanagement collide to limit access to our most essential life-sustaining resource. While so many lives are disrupted, elsewhere water is commercialized as a luxury commodity for the elite, often at the expense of vulnerable communities. These choices are inextricably linked and impact the world around us. Many of those experiencing water insecurity around the world face far greater challenges than we do. But when heavier floods come to Miami, our vulnerable infrastructure suggests that we are increasingly likely to experience water insecurity ourselves.

Many Americans already do: Almost half a million lack indoor plumbing, including more than 7,000 in Miami, which ranked seventh among U.S. cities in “plumbing
poverty” before the pandemic. When disastrous floodwaters come, will sacrifice, or greed and civic neglect, shape the inevitable political narratives about whether or not to save South Florida?

Themes of water play a central role in “Thirst.” Comprising porous coral stone tiles with inlaid porcelain water bottles, the work explicitly conveys the tension between
consumer culture, sustainability and climate change. Water scarcity is positioned in stark contrast to the commodification of water and the indelible impact of plastic on the future of life on Earth.

The artworks supported by Commissioner sustain our communities and their transformative potential. Art testifies to our diverse heritage, experience, and
values. It also acts as a catalyst for change.

In Miami, innovative artworks have engaged our complicated relationship with water, including Xavier Cortada’s “Underwater HOA” project to promote climate-change action, Anastasia Samoylova’s “FloodZone” photographs depicting sea level rise, Morel Doucet’s “Water Grieves in the Six Shades of Death,” mixed-media drawings examining the realities of climate-gentrification, and Lauren Shapiro’s “Future Pacific” clay installation of human-driven stressors that harm ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean. These works champion environmental justice and underscore the need to study more resilient, natural, coastalstructures.
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Local artists continue to inspire sustainable designs and instill hope for Miami’s future. By supporting our local art community and social-justice movements around
the world, we can set an example for activating communities to meet local challenges. Together we can act in transformative ways, respond to rising seas and ensure that these encroaching waters are part of an ecological, equitable and sustainable plan.

Justin Stoler is an associate professor of geography and sustainable development at the University of Miami. Juana Valdés is a Miami-based artist and an associate
professor of art and printmaking at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.