Franky
Cruz
April 2024
Alumni 2015
Visual Arts
Santo Domingo, DR
In 2024, AIRIE launched a new initiative to engage our Fellowship Alumni. Specifically, we want to reinvest in alumni who have shown a dedication to their practice, environmental justice, and continual community investment. The AIRIE Alumni Fellow would once again be immersed in the Everglades to think critically and creatively about how to interpret this subtropical wilderness and its ecological and social themes through artistic practice. Franky Cruz is the first iteration of this AIRIE Alumni Fellow initiative. Read more about his alumni proposal below.
Franky Cruz, Born in Santo Domingo, DR, is a Miami-based artist known for his diverse artistic practice, spanning science, sculpture, installation, and painting. He earned his BFA in painting from the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Florida in 2011.
Recently, Cruz unveiled "Between Destiny and a Hard Place," a large-scale sculpture in Miami, Florida, and activated the captivating Vivarium Meconium Dome Lab at Miami Beach Botanical Garden for Art in Public Places.
Cruz's artistic journey has been highlighted by solo exhibitions at Locust Projects and Spinello Gallery in Miami. His works have been featured in group exhibitions, including "Monarchs" at MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Miami and the 2020 South Florida Cultural Consortium (SFCC) exhibition at NSU museum, curated by Bonnie Clearwater. His art has garnered demand and recognition, with pieces held in both public and private collections. Acknowledged for his talent, Cruz has been honored with notable awards, including the South Florida Cultural Consortium, Oolite Arts Ellies Creator Award winner, and The WaveMaker grant. He has actively participated in artist residencies, such as the Home Base Project in Berlin, AIRIE: Artists in Residence in Everglades in Miami, and NSU Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale Research and Development Artist Residency.
BIO
“As a returning fellow to the Artists in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) program, my project titled "VM Lab at AIRIE Nest: A Study of Endangered Butterflies and other oddities in Everglades National Park," will be centered around a visit to the national park's archive with a specific focus on moths and butterflies. During April, my laboratory operations will move to the AIRIE Nest, where I will engage in exploring the lives and challenges of the endangered Florida leafwing and Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak butterflies through artistic and scientific lenses. The Florida leafwing and Bartram’s scrub-hairstreak butterflies live exclusively in the pine rocklands of Everglades National Park. The Florida leafwing has not been observed outside of Everglades National Park since 2007, underscoring its endangered status and the critical habitat the park provides.”