AIRIE.Foundation Public Statement

Celebrating 25 Years of Work

Art. Environment. Imagination.

For 25 years, AIRIE.Foundation (formerly AIRIE) has supported artists driven by inquiry into environmental art practices. Through a world-class, interdisciplinary residency and exhibition program in the Everglades and beyond, we have shaped how artists, audiences, and communities engage with this extraordinary ecosystem.

Our mission, our identity—has always been to create affirming space in the environment: space filled with hope, curiosity, and care. We invite our Foundation Fellows to become stewards of landscapes unfamiliar to many who apply. To dream. To rest. To share. To inspire the imagination, and in doing so, to visually suggest new paths forward.

For a quarter century, we have shared a very special relationship with the team and leadership at Everglades National Park. 

As the Federal Administration advances its vision across the National Park Service,  it was time for AIRIE.Foundation to make a natural and thoughtful separation, which means we no longer have access or use of a cabin in the Everglades National Park.

What has not changed is our commitment to our AIRIE.Foundation community.

We continue as funders to our Fellows, as a programming and convenings partner, and as the connector for our 225+ alumni community. We remain stewards of our shared stories—through our Digital Archive, our newsletter, and by supporting the journeys still unfolding.

Our expanded funding direction—focused on curating and cultivating alumni visions—has helped broaden environmental dialogue globally, rooted deeply in South Florida experiences. Notable installations include:

• Elements of Being, presented at the European Cultural Centre during the 2024 Venice Biennale, featuring a video installation by Miami-based choreographer Gentry George (2023 Fellow). A descendant of the African Diaspora, George dances across the Everglades pine forest landscape, layered with flames, destruction, and a commissioned libretto—evoking ecosystem fragility, land memory, loss, and resilience.

• Ebb + Flow, part of the 2024–2025 Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt, New York City—where AIRIE.Foundation was the only participating nonprofit environmental organization. Curated by Cornelius Tulloch (2022 Fellow), the installation featured works by four Fellows, audio stories of maroon histories and Indigenous contemporary boat-making practices, and printed seating by Christina Pettersson (2018 Fellow), creating a contemplative space for meditation within the museum’s glass atrium.

• The critically acclaimed exhibition AIRIE Presents: Ania Freer — Raised by Land, Held by Water during Art Basel Miami Beach/ Miami Art Week 2025. The exhibition included a large-scale video installation sharing artistically rendered stories of the Everglades, surrounded by 422 Fakahatchee grasses planted inside the gallery to evoke tree islands. These grasses were later replanted in Miami’s Wynwood Norte district.

We are deeply grateful to the artists, alumni, funders, partners, and community members who have made the past 25 years possible. Together, we have built something lasting—and together, we look toward a future centered on creating affirming space in the outdoors and amplifying diverse narratives and histories.

We are in contact with our current co-hort of fellows and working with them individually on how we move forward with each of their residencies. Please continue to follow the journeys of our 2026 Foundation Fellows on Instagram @airie.foundation or visit www.airie.foundation.

2026 Foundation Fellows 

Jan-Jean Shin
Feb - Shenny De Los Angeles
Mar - Daveed Baptiste
April - Laurena Fineus
May- Coco Villa / Sheherazade Thénard
Jun- Julius Karoubi
July - Laurena Finéus
Aug- Havîn Al-Sîndy
Sep- Samuel Domínguez
Oct - Sarah Doerfel / Vincent Scheers
Nov -Bex McCharen
Dec - Ackeem Salmon  

*Additional 25th Anniversary programming will be announced soon.

For inquiries, please contact info@airie.foundation.

With Gratitude and Grace,