Miami, FL -  AIRIE.Foundation, the South Florida-based non-profit organization that empowers artists to think critically about their relationship to the environment, announces the participation in Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City with an interdisciplinary installation entitled “Ebb + Flow.” 

The AIRIE.Foundation presentation is one of 25 site-specific, newly commissioned installations in Making Home. The installations explore design’s role in shaping the physical and emotional realities of home across the United States, US Territories, and Tribal Nations. The exhibition is the seventh offering in the Cooper Hewitt’s Design Triennial series, which was established in 2000 to address the most urgent topics of the time through the lens of design.

With “Ebb + Flow,” conceived by AIRIE.Foundation Global Creative Director Cornelius Tulloch, the organization presents an installation centering stories on the theme of home and the Everglades as a place of belonging through a combination or artistic elements created by architect Germane Barnes, and artists Atéha Bailly, Ania Freer and Christina Pettersson.

Enveloping the conservatory into the stories, melodies, and rhythms of the Everglades, this aural experience chronicles the current efforts of multiple important stakeholders. The ideas and content were generated in collaboration during round table conversations with cultural organizers Gene and Wallis Tinnie, artist Daniel Tommie, and artist and organizer Reverend Houston Cypress, who all play integral roles in the furthering of deep understanding of the relevance of the Everglades beyond the physical borders and its preservation. Their work is deeply aligned with the environment and considers the intersections between science, culture and climate.

“I’m really excited to be working with this brilliant group of artists to bring these local South Florida stories to the forefront at such a monumental venue. Art and design have been used for ages as tools to communicate. I think this presentation does a great job of introducing interventions into the space that begin to explore nuanced narratives and histories of how design has been used as a tool of preservation, but also an instrument of destruction in this vulnerable environment. The Everglade is home to many and at AIRIE.Foundation we realize the important work artists and designers are doing to amplify the stories of local communities being impacted.” says Cornelius Tulloch

“During my AIRIE.Foundation residency I spent a lot of time immersing myself in the natural environment, field recordings and intimate video studies of fauna and flora around the Everglades Park. I began to build a strong relationship to the environment and found incredible comfort, serenity and peace within it, something I am now excited to share with audiences through this project for the Smithsonian Design Triennial,” says Ania Freer. “Working on these films and collaborating with musician Atéha Bailey to build rich soundscapes using my field recordings, I now am able to share my personal experience and relationship with the Everglades with a wide audience. I am excited to bring my field recordings and video studies into Cooper Hewitt and allow audiences to hear important stories and experience healing sounds of this very remarkable natural environment.”  

Says Christina Pettersson, "I highly value my now decade long relationship with AIRIE.Foundation, and am delighted to see how the organization has grown, and that I can continue to be a part of its mission. This project in the Triennial exemplifies their stewardship not only for the Everglades ecosystem itself, but the people who remain the beating heart of its unique beauty.”

Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial will open to the public on November 2, 2024, and runs through August 10, 2025. For further information, please visit:  Upcoming Exhibitions | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

About AIRIE.Foundation 

AIRIE.Foundation supports artists working at the intersection of art, environment, and community. Through strategic funding, curatorial platforms, and public programs, we cultivate stewardship, elevate underrepresented narratives, and expand environmental dialogue locally and globally.

For more details, please visit www.airie.foundation or visit us on instagram @airie.foundation

About Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cooper Hewitt is America’s design museum. Inclusive, innovative and experimental, the museum’s dynamic exhibitions, education programs, master’s program, publications and online resources inspire, educate and empower people through design. An integral part of the Smithsonian Institution—the world’s largest museum, education and research complex—Cooper Hewitt is located on New York City’s Museum Mile in the landmarked Carnegie Mansion. Steward of one of the world’s most diverse and comprehensive design collections—over 215,000 objects that range from an ancient Egyptian faience cup dating to about 1100 BC to contemporary 3D-printed objects and digital code—Cooper Hewitt welcomes everyone to discover the importance of design and its power to change the world.

For more information, visit www.cooperhewitt.org or follow @cooperhewitt on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.