Artists AZ(Land) were selected to create an artistic shade-focused installation at Steele Indian School Park (photo courtesy of City of Phoenix Arts & Culture Department).
In July, the Phoenix Arts & Culture Department announced the selection of nine artists for its “¡Sombra!” public art project, which will create shade and cooling installations in public parks, including Los Olivos, Steele Indian School and Sunnyslope.
Funded by a $1 million Public Art Challenge grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the artists will create temporary shading and cooling installations in response to Phoenix’s extreme urban heat. Throughout the projects, the City of Phoenix Arts & Culture Department and the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation seek to demonstrate scalable solutions and inspire community dialogue about urban heat.
Chosen from nearly 80 submissions from across the U.S., the winning artists were chosen for their public art concepts’ use of effective, experimental and innovative materials and processes, creative themes and community engagement activities.
The winning “¡Sombra!” artists and their corresponding temporary installation locations are Arizona-based artists Shomit Barua – Los Olivos Park; Jose Benavides and Joe Ray – Cielito Park; AZ(Land) – Steele Indian School Park; Feng-Feng Yeh – Eastlake Park; and Bobby Zokaites – Cortez Park. Artists from across the U.S. include Jessica Arias – Sunnyslope Park; Josie Davis & Jenny Boehme – Roesley Park; Kira Dominguez-Hultgren – Maryvale Park; and Luke Haynes – Sereno Park.
All of these parks have been identified as those of “high need” by community partners, and while the grant requires that the art be temporary, experimental projects that will test solutions, a spokesperson for the City says that they will evaluate opportunities to transform the art into permanent installations in the future.
The “¡Sombra!” temporary installations will be installed in the spring of 2025 at each of the selected parks and then be relocated to Steele Indian School Park in September 2025 for a one-day, family-friendly festival featuring activities for children, food and music. The event will include workshops, educational activities and festive events for artists, civic leaders and residents to discover new, creative ways to adapt to Phoenix’s extreme urban heat.
Learn more at www.sombraphx.org.
