AIRIE.FOUNDATION
Board Update
Q2 2026 Performance + Early Q3 Highlight
President’s Message
Welcoming New Board Members
In Q2, we had the pleasure of welcoming five new members to the AIRIE.Foundation Board:
Gal Nissim
Artist & AIRIE.Foundation Alumni
Dr. Jafari Allen
Author & Professor
Lola Flash
Artist & AIRIE.Foundation Alumni
Tatiana Mourabes
Curator & Cultural Archivist
Rachel Barrett
PhD Candidate, Edna Manley College; Cultural Curator & Artist
We are so fortunate to have them join us. Each brings a unique perspective, body of experience, and connection to the creative community, and I’m excited about what their voices will add as we imagine AIRIE.Foundation’s future together.
President’s Message
Celebrating 25 Years at The Armory Show
September 24–27
One piece of news I’m especially excited to share is that, as part of our 25th Anniversary, AIRIE.Foundation has been invited by The Armory Show Director Kyla McMillan to participate in the Platform section, curated by Jovanna Venegas of SculptureCenter.
This feels particularly meaningful when we consider the journey of the last several years—from Palazzo Bembo during the 2024 Venice Biennale, to the Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial 2024–2025, our annual presence on the VIP agenda during Art Basel Miami Beach since 2023, and now The Armory Show 2026.
These invitations are wonderful recognition of the work, but more importantly, they give AIRIE.Foundation and our artists opportunities to enter larger conversations about art, ecology, place, and our shared future. It is exciting to see AIRIE.Foundation increasingly represented on these important national and international stages.
And, of course, we would love to celebrate this moment with you! A special invitation will be coming to your inbox soon for our VIP Breakfast at The Armory Show on September 24 at 9:00 AM. If you are able to join us in New York, we would love to gather everyone for a Board and AIRIE.Foundation family photograph as well.
President’s Message
A Few Dates for Your Calendars
In Residence · 2026 AIRIE.Foundation Fellows
September 15–October 3*
Samuel Dominguez
London
Residency
AIRIE.Foundation at The Kampong – Coconut Grove, FL
*Cottage Occupied by The Kampong 9/25–9/27
*Fellow will do a personal excursion 9/23–9/28 to attend The Armory Show
Public Program
Friday, Sept 25 · Time tbc.
In conversation via live
youtube.com/@airie.foundation
October 12–29*
Sarah Doerfl
Berlin
Residency
AIRIE.Foundation at The Kampong – Coconut Grove, FL
Public Program
Saturday, Oct 24 · 11am
The Kampong
November 4–30*
Bex McCharen
Miami
Residency
AIRIE.Foundation at the Flamingo / Greater Everglades
Nov 4–8 · Flamingo Eco – Adventure Campsite
Nov 8–14 · Flamingo Eco – Hotel
Nov 26–30 · Monument Lake Campground
*Cottage Occupied by The Kampong 11/8–11/14
Public Program
Saturday, November 21 (Location / Time TBD)
November 21 - December 14
Ackeem Salmon
Detroit + Paris
Residency
AIRIE.Foundation at The Kampong – Coconut Grove, FL
Public Program
Saturday, Nov 28th · 3pm
The Carter Project Miami
Annual Commissioner x AIRIE.Foundation
Art Basel Miami Beach Week Reveal
Cocktail Party x Performance
Public Program
Thursday, December 10
Fireside Chat + Performance
6:30pm - 8:30pm
The Kampong
President’s Message
Special Invitations
Thursday, September 24, 9:00 AM
The Armory Show | Jacob K. Javits Center, NY
AIRIE.Foundation’s Ancestral CurrentsVIP Breakfast & Gathering
Thursday, October 8 | Time TBC
Dorsoduro District | Venice, Italy
AIRIE.Foundation x CMNXR PanelA conversation on Art + Ecologies featuring T. Robertson Carter, Cornelius Tulloch, and Knight Foundation VP of Arts Kristina Newman-Scott.
Thursday, November 19 | All Day
Give Miami Day
Saturday, November 28 | 3:00 PM
The Carter Project Miami | Miami, FL
Art Basel Miami Beach Week RevealCMNXR x AIRIE.Foundation Annual
Our Commissioner’s annual event at The Carter Project Miami will include a special presentation by Ackeem Salmon, AIRIE.Foundation December Fellow and YoungArts Alumni.
Special Gathering of Board for Cocktails and Celebratory Event for the end of the 25th Anniversary Season
Thursday, December 3 | tbc
NADA Art Fair
AIRIE.Foundation PanelArt Basel Miami Beach Week Reveal
Panel discussion with Special Guests hosted by AIRIE.Foundation
President’s Message
Retreat 2026
Planning Our Future Together
Our July 25–27 retreat at The Kampong was a wonderful opportunity to spend time together, reflect on where AIRIE.Foundation has been, and begin imagining where we want to go next.
AIRIE.Foundation 2026 Board Retreat NotesI hope you’ll have a chance to revisit the notes before our meeting. We’ll return to several of the ideas, priorities, and next steps that emerged from our conversations when we gather on August 29.
President’s Message
Financials
As many of you know, uncertainty remains around county and state grant funding. While this presents challenges, it also reinforces the importance of the work we have already begun to diversify AIRIE.Foundation’s support and think creatively about our next model.
There are opportunities ahead, but we will need to continue expanding our relationships, strengthening our case for support, and telling AIRIE.Foundation’s story in ways that clearly communicate the extraordinary impact of this organization and its artists.
We will share a financial review of the first half of 2026 at the Board Meeting and have time together to discuss where we stand, where we see opportunity, and how we can collectively support the next phase.
President’s Message
There is much more to share, but mostly I wanted to say thank you. AIRIE.Foundation has reached this moment because of a community of people who believe deeply in its artists, its mission, and the importance of protecting space for creative exploration within the Everglades.
I’m grateful to have each of you as part of that community and very much look forward to being together on August 29—to celebrate what we’ve accomplished, talk openly about the work ahead, and continue imagining AIRIE’s next chapter together.
See you soon,
Zoe
Board President · AIRIE.Foundation
Part Two
Marketing & Communications
Communications Objective
Increase awareness of AIRIE.Foundation’s artists, residency program, partnerships, public programs, and environmental mission while strengthening engagement with cultural, educational, nonprofit, philanthropic, and creative communities.
Executive Summary
A quarter of measurable growth.
AIRIE.Foundation closed Q2 2026 with significant growth in digital visibility, audience reach, and community engagement.
Artist-centered storytelling—especially content highlighting fellows, artist events, and the residency experience—continued to generate the strongest results. Instagram achieved double-digit growth across views, reach, interactions, and followers, while LinkedIn recorded substantial increases in impressions, reactions, and audience growth.
The audiences driving this performance are closely aligned with AIRIE.Foundation’s mission, including professionals in higher education, nonprofit organizations, arts, writing, and cultural institutions. These results reflect a growing and highly engaged community connecting with AIRIE.Foundation’s artists, programs, and evolving residency model.
Across social media, email, the website, and event communications, the marketing team supported greater visibility for AIRIE.Foundation’s mission while helping connect artists, place, partners, and community.
Q2 Performance at a Glance
Reach, engagement, and audience — measured.
Quarter over quarter
90,621Views
23% increase
19,616Accounts reached
39% increase
5,526Interactions
38% increase
370New followers
10% increase
10,937Total followers
Quarter over quarter
3,385Impressions
85% increase
229Reactions
26% increase
18New followers
80% increase
325Total followers
Communications and Mission Impact
AIRIE.Foundation’s communications supported the organization through four connected areas.
Social Media
Elevated fellows, artist practices, residency experiences, events, partnerships, and organizational milestones while expanding AIRIE.Foundation’s reach among mission-aligned audiences.
Email Marketing
Provided a direct channel for sharing organizational news, event information, artist updates, opportunities, and calls to action with AIRIE.Foundation’s community.
Website Communications
Supported AIRIE.Foundation’s institutional presence by providing a central destination for information about the mission, artists, residency program, partnerships, events, and public initiatives.
Event Communications
Built awareness before programs, documented meaningful moments during events, and extended the life and reach of AIRIE.Foundation’s programming through post-event storytelling.
Key Content and Audience Insights
Artist-centered storytelling remains AIRIE.Foundation’s strongest communications strategy.
Carousels featuring artist events and monthly fellow announcements consistently outperformed other content formats. Content that connects an artist’s practice with the residency experience, the natural environment, and AIRIE.Foundation’s broader mission is generating the strongest audience response.
Audience growth is concentrated among professionals and organizations in:
This indicates that AIRIE.Foundation is reaching audiences with strong potential to become collaborators, program participants, advocates, funders, and residency partners.
Early Q3 Highlight
A New Creative Chapter at The Kampong
On Saturday, July 25, AIRIE.Foundation opened the doors to its next creative chapter with an exclusive preview at The Kampong.
The Kampong · Saturday, July 25
Surrounded by the beauty of this new residency environment, guests gathered for a private tour of the grounds with The Kampong Director, Brian Sidoti and the afternoon then centered on a thoughtful conversation with July AIRIE.Foundation Fellow Laurena Finéus, alongside Knight Foundation VP / Arts Kristina Newman-Scott and AIRIE.Foundation Global Artistic Director Cornelius Tulloch. Together, they reflected on a guiding idea for the work ahead: the importance of slowing down, connecting with the natural world, and becoming active observers of the environments around us.
Thank you to The Kampong team for an inspiring afternoon.
The event marked an important milestone in AIRIE.Foundation’s evolution from the Everglades to Environments Everywhere. It demonstrated how AIRIE.Foundation’s expanding residency model can create new opportunities for artists, places, and communities to come together through meaningful public programming.
Event Highlight at a Glance
- 25guests
- First public event at The Kampong
- Second AIRIE.Foundation residency environment
- A milestone in the Environments Everywhere expansion
Opportunity Area
From reach to measurable action.
LinkedIn content reach and follower growth increased substantially. However, page views declined to 73, down 20%, and unique visitors totaled 37.
The next opportunity is to convert strong content performance into more measurable actions, including:
Website visits:
- Newsletter subscriptions
- Event registrations
- Program participation
- Partnership inquiries
- Donor engagement
- Media opportunities
Facebook metrics are not included in this reporting period because AIRIE.Foundation only recently resumed posting on the platform. Reporting will begin once a reliable performance baseline has been established.
Q3 Communications Priorities
What comes next.
- Continue artist-, fellow-, and residency-centered storytelling.
- Prioritize carousel and short-form video content.
- Promote upcoming fellows, events, partnerships, and public programs.
- Document the expansion of AIRIE.Foundation’s residency environments.
- Strengthen coordination across social media, email, website, and events.
- Improve calls to action and pathways from content to AIRIE.Foundation’s website.
- Increase LinkedIn profile visits and institutional engagement.
- Strengthen tracking of website visits, registrations, inquiries, and subscriber growth.
- Continue communicating AIRIE.Foundation’s evolution from the Everglades to Environments Everywhere.
How the Board Can Support
Board members can help extend AIRIE.Foundation’s visibility and institutional reach by:
- Sharing priority campaigns, artist stories, and events through their networks.
- Introducing AIRIE.Foundation to cultural, educational, philanthropic, environmental, and residency partners.
- Identifying potential donors, sponsors, media contacts, and collaborators.
- Supporting the promotion of upcoming public programs.
- Participating in selected interviews, testimonials, or organizational storytelling.
- Providing relevant opportunities and organizational updates early enough for communications planning.
Key Takeaway
AIRIE.Foundation’s communications are reaching a larger and increasingly mission-aligned audience. Artist-centered storytelling is strengthening visibility for the residency program and creating deeper connections with creative, cultural, educational, and nonprofit communities.
The July 25 event at The Kampong demonstrates how this visibility is translating into meaningful in-person engagement and supporting AIRIE.Foundation’s expansion into new residency environments. The next phase is to convert growing awareness into stronger participation, partnerships, philanthropic engagement, and measurable organizational opportunities.
AIRIE.Foundation (formerly AIRIE) is a 501c3 non-profit
EIN#26-0274623
Donations are tax deductible.
AIRIE.Foundation (formerly AIRIE) is supported in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council,
the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners of Miami Dade County; the Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the State of Florida, WEGE Foundation and private donors.
Copyright 2026
AIRIE.Foundation