Megafauna: Land Dwellers
On View May 4 – July 31, 2023
Exhibition Opening Thursday, May 4, 2023 7–9 pm
Young Arts Gallery Miami
2100 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33137

Young Arts Gallery presents a group exhibition tackling vital environmental issues. The exhibition features 28 Artists with Artworks Spanning 5 Disciplines
in Miami FL. Megafauna Land Dwellers is an exploration of pressing environmental issues through art created by 28 dancers, designers, photographers, visual artists and writers. Curated by Naomi Fisher (1994 Visual Arts), artist, curator and co-founder of Bas Fisher Invitational (BFI), the group exhibition highlights works that respond to vital topics such as eco-feminism, nature and wildlife conservation, artificial landscapes, activism and biodiversity.

Fisher’s artistic and curatorial practices are defined by humanity’s interaction with nature and its’ impact on the planet, as well as the inspiration natural forms have on how humans build and decorate dwellings, design functional objects and inspire art. For Megafauna Land Dwellers, these considerations are expanded into a larger and more textured dialogue through interdisciplinary and intergenerational voices.

“We are at a critical time on planet earth, the urgency to change our lifestyles to combat climate change is clear based on many scientific reports, yet not enough action to reduce carbon in the necessary timeline is underway,” says Naomi Fisher. “Sometimes there is despair, and art brings us back to a place of contemplation through visual explorations of ideas rooted in many mediums. Art enlightens our awareness of how we perceive, interact with, and rely on nature.”

YoungArts’ annual spring exhibition provides a space for an intergenerational group of artists across disciplines to present work that contemplates pressing issues from our past and present that affect our future. Invited guest artists or curators expand on the idea of conventional exhibition-making to embrace the idea of mentorship and peer-to-peer exchange between artists that are part of the YoungArts community and beyond.

Participating artists, who are all YoungArts award winners from the last 40 years are:

Priscilla Aleman, 2009 Visual Arts & U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
Lizette Avineri, 2007 Visual Arts
Andie Aylsworth, 2018 Visual Arts
Marcus Bui, 2023 Photography
Liza Butts, 2012 Visual Arts
Catherine Camargo, 2017 Visual Arts
Michelle Chen, 2016 Writing
Juan Jose Cielo, 2015 Visual Arts
Zoe Dorado, 2023 Writing
Mackenzie Duan, 2023 Writing
Nicole Eisenman, 1983 Visual Arts
Charlotte Gagliardi, 2023 Design Arts
Ave Tiye Kinsey, 2004 Writing & U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
Smriti Krishnan, 2012 Dance
Olivia Le, 2023 Writing
Michael Loveland, 1991 Visual Arts
Jonathan Lovett, 2019 Photography
Lilly Mitrani, 2023 Photography
Zora Nooks, 2023 Photography
Isabel Oliva, 2017 Visual Arts
Lee Pivnik, 2014 Visual Arts
Coralina Rodriguez Meyer, 2000 Visual Arts
Vinicius de Aguiar Sanchez, 2007 Visual Arts
Nicole Salcedo, 2006 Visual Arts
Zoe Schweiger, 2018 Visual Arts
Nadir Souirgi, 1994 Visual Arts
Cornelius Tulloch, 2016 Design Arts & Visual Arts & U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
Gabrielle Vitollo, 2008 Visual Arts
This exhibition, and all YoungArts programming, is made possible with the generous support of numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. Please visit youngarts.org/donor-recognition for a complete list of donors.

About YoungArts

Established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison, YoungArts identifies exceptional young artists, amplifies their potential, and invests in their lifelong creative freedom. YoungArts provides space, funding, mentorship, professional development and community throughout artists’ careers. Entrance into this prestigious organization starts with a highly competitive application for talented artists ages 15–18, or grades 10–12, in the United States that is judged by esteemed discipline-specific panels of artists through a rigorous blind adjudication process.