MIA highlights African American artwork for Black History Month

In celebration of Black History Month’s 2024 theme “African Americans and the Arts,” Miami International Airport is highlighting two of its artworks by African American artists.

When approaching MIA’s parking entrance, visitors may wonder what the 35-foot-high stainless-steel sculpture on their left is. Commissioned in 1980, Parabolic Flight by artist Fred Eversley was one of the first Art in Public Places (APP) works in Miami-Dade County under the percent for art program ordinance passed in 1973 and the very first public art commission by the APP Trust for MIA.

As with many of the artist's sculptures, Parabolic Flight incorporates parabolic curves that concentrate and reflect energy into a single point. According to Eversley, the piece "was designed to act as a vertical axis windmill, rotating by wind energy, and turning a generator which powered the neon light mounted along its parabolic periphery.”

Eversley began his career as an aerospace engineer, leading the testing and certification for NASA’s Gemini and Apollo projects. At age 25, he retired from engineering to become an artist. In 1977, he became the first artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum. His work is within the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.

Parabolic Flight is part of the Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places program, made possible with the support of the Art in Public Places Trust, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor, and the Board of County Commissioners.

Moving from MIA’s entrance to its busiest area inside Concourse D, travelers can experience Genesis, an exhibition of 14 photographs by Miami-based interdisciplinary artist and architect Cornelius Tulloch that documents how Caribbean and Black life in Miami has transformed within the domestic space.

On display at MIA’s Cameraworks Gallery at gates D22 and D25 until February 26, Genesis is a series created in 2020 and 2021 at the height of the pandemic that captures tender moments between family and community through uncertain times, resonating and connecting with viewers via images of shared experiences and familiar spaces. Tulloch went back to his roots while quarantining in his childhood home during the pandemic to create Genesis.

In Genesis, Tulloch combines his background in visual art, design, and architecture to explore the everyday Black domestic home and reimagines it as a cinematic stage for cultural performance. Architecture and lighting coalesce to evoke emotion and contribute to the mood, becoming characters and living elements themselves as well. The works' spatial compositions and altered lighting produce dramatic colors that transform the space into a surreal and dreamlike home. The initial production of Genesis was funded by a 2020 Ellies Creator Award and presented by Oolite Art.

Drawing from his Jamaican and African American heritage and Miami upbringing, Tulloch’s work embodies a conscious introspection and reflection on identity, cultural heritage, and the natural and built environment. His spatial storytelling through his work has been shown in institutions like the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.; NYU Center for Black Visual Culture, New York; The Faena Art Project Room, Miami; and at MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, Italy.