25 Feb 27th-March 5th, 2025 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | FRI 2/28 SAT 3/1 SUN 3/2 THURS 3/6 THURS 2/27 ALBERT CASTIGLIA DOORS: 7:00PM / SHOW: 8:00PM DANIELLE NICOLE WITH BRANDON MILLER DOORS: 7:00PM / SHOW: 8:00PM JIMI PRIMETIME SMITH BOB CORRITORE BLUES BAND WITH JIMI, BOB, BRIAN FAHEY, YANI RILEY, JOHNNY RAPP & CARLA DENISE DOORS: 7:00PM / SHOW: 8:00PM COSMIC COYOTE WITH SPECIAL GUEST ALICE TATUM SHOW: 1:00PM - 4:00PM AMERICAN MILE W/ KEVIN REDICH & THE HOLY HEATHENS DOORS: 7:00PM / SHOW: 7:30PM Made for the Shade How the “¡Sombra!” public art project will help keep Phoenix cooler. BY MIRA PRESTON T he city of Phoenix is moving forward with an ambitious public art project, with artists beginning to plan nine shade structures that will provide artistic relief from Arizona’s searing summer. The art project, “¡Sombra! Experiments in Shade,” is being funded by a grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge, which seeks to finance public art in eight different cities across the United States that address civic issues with temporary art structures. The $1 million grant is distributed to the artists with about $75,000 each for their projects, which range from textile shade covers inspired by “grandma’s quilts” to large-scale sculptures. The goal of the project, according to Carrie Brown, deputy director of the arts and culture staff for the city of Phoenix, is to allow artists to contribute ideas to civic issues. “We’re hoping that we come away with some really creative solutions for creating shade and cooling in our town,” Brown says. “Our public art program has a long history of creating artist-designed shade structures. And so this is kind of an exten- sion of that, allowing us to experiment with different methods and different materials and hopefully come away with some things that we can implement in a permanent fashion down the road.” Artists working on “¡Sombra!” also hope that this project will pave the way for allowing artists a seat at the table for addressing civic issues. Kira Dominguez Hultgren, a weaving-based artist and assis- tant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, whose piece for “¡Sombra!” will involve traditional Mexican textiles, says that inviting artists to collaborate on civic projects can help to imagine new, creative solutions. “It’s almost like bringing in the fiction writers for something that ultimately needs to be a nonfiction book at the end of the day,” she says. Urban heat is a major problem for the city of Phoenix. Maricopa County saw over 400 heat-related deaths in 2024, according to the most recent data from the public health department, many of whom did not have consistent access to relief from the sun. Shade infrastructure, such as the art pieces that the “¡Sombra!” project will create, is a major part of providing relief from the sun’s effects, according to Mary Wright, a built environment specialist for the city of Phoenix’s Office of Heat Response and Mitigation. “Increasing shade in the city in places where people are is a major priority for us,” Wright says. “Research shows that shade is the most important physical vari- able outdoors to keep people safe, because it dramatically reduces the overall heat burden on the human body.” Underserved communities tend to have less protection from the sun, according to Wright, primarily because they lack shade infrastructure — either built structures or shade canopies from trees. Because of this, these underserved areas tend to have higher surface temperatures, and with fewer resources allocated to them, the burden of hot summers weighs on them more heavily than neighborhoods with more financial access. Certain demographics, such as home- less people, are also more at risk to the effects of extreme heat. Those who are vulnerable to the heat often have “higher physical sensitivity, more exposure and fewer resources to cope with the heat,” according to Wright — making access to shade all the important when the summer heat can become deadly. The “¡Sombra!” project encourages artists not just to provide protection from the sun, but also to experiment and Kira Dominguez Hultgren’s “¡Sombra!” piece will involve traditional Mexican textiles. (City of Phoenix) >> p 26 ▼ Arts & Culture
