Miami, FL - June 24, 2025 - Artists in Residence in the Everglades (AIRIE), the South Florida-based non-profit organization that empowers artists to think critically and creates affirming spaces at the intersection of art and environment, announces its 2025/2026 Fellows . The new cohort represents the largest to date as the organization celebrates 25 years of bringing artists to the Everglades National Park.

The 2025/2026 Fellows are Ashia Ajani, The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker, Daveed Baptiste, Shenny de Los Angeles, Sarah Doerfel & Vincent Scheers, Samuel Dominguez, Laurena Finéus, Havîn Hât, Julius Karoubi, Bex McCharen, Thandeka Mfinyongo, Lee Pivnik, Sterling Rook, Jewel Rodgers, Ackeem Salmon, Jean Shin, Sheherazade Thénard & Coco Villa, and David Rahahę•tih Webb

“We are excited to welcome our AIRIE 25th anniversary cohort of artists to Everglades National Park,” said AIRIE Board President Zoë McKenzie. “The artists joining us in residence this season represent many disciplines and geographies and will engage us in a variety of dialogues that offer us new points of departure when thinking about or engaging with nature, landscape, community and artistic practice."

AIRIE received a record 500 applications from 38 countries for its 2025/2026 residency program. Applications were adjudicated by an esteemed panel of established artists, scholars, curators and community leaders. AIRIE works together with artists to create an immersive residency experience through excursions and engagements with scientists, park rangers, indigenous groups, historians, and community leaders to provide an in-depth look at this biologically and culturally significant ecosystem, as well as the myriad challenges it faces. 

"For 25 years, the AIRIE program has stood as a powerful reminder of the vital connection between art and nature,” said Everglades National Park Superintendent Pedro Ramos. “The Everglades - wild, subtle, and yet profound - have long inspired creative reflection, and AIRIE’s partnership with the National Park Service has nurtured voices that help us see these landscapes with new eyes. This milestone celebrates not only the artists who have passed through this program but also the enduring role of our national parks as catalysts for imagination, inquiry, and transformation.” 

Artists have always found themselves at the forefront of social and environmental change, using their creativity to make a difference  within our society. They have used their skills to document and communicate the complexities of the world around us. AIRIE is looking forward to championing practices that engage local communities and seeing how future fellows position their creativity as a catalyst to develop the dialogue their work is creating into tangible change and action. 

Over the past 25 years, AIRIE has impacted the landscape of both Miami’s environmental and artistic  spaces. For the anniversary season, the organization will look at past accomplishments as a renowned residency with deep roots in Miami and South Florida, but with strong national and International recognition, and use its core definition as a point of departure to serve its communities, and champion the work of artists in the Everglades and beyond. 

The 2025/2026 fellow bios and headshots are available in the press kit AIRIE Press Kit -2025-2026 Fellows

About AIRIE 

Artists in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit that empowers artists to think creatively and critically about our relationship to the environment with a mission of revealing new paths forward. AIRIE’s immersive residency program provides artists the opportunity to live, research and create inside Everglades National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site currently listed as in danger of disappearing forever.

Since 2001, AIRIE has supported the careers of over 190 artists, writers, musicians, curators, and other creatives through full immersion in the park. 

To stay updated on events and exhibitions, or to sign up for our newsletter, visit airie.org. We invite you to connect with AIRIE on Instagram at @airieverglades.