C(h)oral Stories and Collective Actions Screening & Panel Discussion

1650 Harrison Street,Hollywood FL 33020

23 April, 2022

Description

An informative screening and discussion on the importance to preserve the coral reefs with artists, scientists, and activists. Join us for a screening and discussion on the coral reefs moderated by C[h]oral Stories and Collective Actions curator Ombretta Agró Andruff. The screening will include two of the films currently on view in Gallery 3 at the Center: Future Pacific and Coral Restoration with Rescue a Reef. Following the films, the panel will discuss the very dire problems with the decay of coral reefs and how they may be retained and restored. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A CHARGE OF $7 AT THE DOOR FOR NON-MEMBERS. About the films: Future Pacific, 2020. The film by Shireen Rahimi is based on the exhibition by Lauren Shapiro at the Bakehouse Art Complex from November 21st, 2020 to May 30th, 2021. The project was supported by a broader outreach grant from the National Science Foundation that was awarded to marine ecologist Dr. Nyssa Silbiger for research on how human-driven stressors, including climate change, affect coastal marine ecosystems in the Pacific Ocean. Together, Shapiro and Silbiger cast silicone molds of coral specimens to recreate them as textures in an immersive installation. Coral Restoration with Rescue a Reef, 2018. Rescue a Reef is a program at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. The film is by Waterlust, an eco-responsible company that creates apparel to be used as a science communication tool that funds research and education about environmental conservation shows how methods of coral gardening and how scientists are engaging recreational scuba divers to help restore reefs in South Florida. About the panelists: Lauren Shapiro was born in Plantation, Florida, and lives and works in Miami. Shapiro received a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Miami (2016) and a BFA from Florida Atlantic University (2009). Her work experiments with art’s possibility to affect change and cultivate a broad awareness of our environment. Selected solo exhibitions include Future Pacific' (2021) at Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami, Florida, Garden Portals (2021) at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, in Miami, Florida, and Fragile Terrains (2018), at Bianca Boekel Galeria, in São Paulo, Brazil. Selected group exhibitions include Design Miami, (2021) with Todd Merrill Studio in Miami Beach, Florida, Powder Hounds (2020) at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado, and Projektr aum M54 (2017) in Basel, Switzerland. Merle Liivand is a swim champion, Guinness record holder, model, aquapreneur, Swimera CEO, and avid ocean conservation activist. Originally from Tallinn, Estonia, Liivand was the Baltic States Champion in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and an Estonian National Swim Team member. In 2021, she was nominated for the 2021 World Open Water Swimming Women of the Year Award. Liivand splits her time between Estonia and Florida, where she trains and coaches the next generation of swimmers. Her nickname is the Mermaid of Miami. Dr. Diego Lirman’s research focuses on the disturbance ecology and active restoration of coastal ecosystems including both coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems. He has been a member of the Florida Reef Restoration program since its inception in 2007 and runs coral nurseries in Miami-Dade County and Biscayne National Park. His lab has been instrumental in developing science-based restoration and monitoring practices now used widely in Florida and the Caribbean. His lab has planted countless corals onto degraded reefs in Florida and the Dominican Republic. Dr. Lirman also created the Rescue a Reef citizen science program where members of the public contribute to reef restoration by joining expeditions alongside restoration practitioners. He is the lead PI of Southeast Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration HUB program. Patrick Rynne is the CEO of Waterlust, an organization that creates eco-responsible, sun-protective apparel used to help fund research and educate the world about environmental conservation. Rynne holds a Ph.D. in Applied Marine Physics from the University of Miami and a MS in Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University. He volunteers as a subject matter expert in coastal ocean science for the City of Miami’s Climate Resilience Committee where he currently serves as the board’s Chair. About the moderator: Italian-born and Miami-based Ombretta Agró Andruff is a freelance curator and environmental activist. She has curated internationally for more than 20 years, most recently at Atchugarry Foundation in Miami. Her passion for the Florida waterways inspired ARTSail, a nomadic residency and research initiative that investigates creative climate change inquiries. Agró Andruff is on the board of IKT International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, and organized its first US-based Congress in 2019 in Miami, with a post-Congress in Havana, Cuba. For more information about ARTSail: www.artsail.info For more information about the Exhibition: https://www.artandculturecenter.org/choral-stories