Sombra: New art installations popping up across Phoenix

Phoenix launches "¡Sombra!" summer shade project

Phoenix chose nine of its most barren parks for the shade structure installations, which are temporary for permit purposes. FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez has the story.

PHOENIX - Who doesn't want to stay cool in the summer heat? Soon, nine shades and cooling structures will be installed in Phoenix and the project is called, "¡Sombra! Experiments in Shade."

The nine installations will be spread out across the City of Phoenix, and will be located at city parks, including Maryvale, Sunnyslope, and Los Olivos.

"As we all know, our parks aren’t very active during the day. During the summer, because it’s not safe, it’s too hot. So, we are hoping to see some more activation during the summer months, people enjoying the sculptures. They are all very unique," said Carrie Brown from the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.

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Credit: City of Phoenix

The installations are temporary, but will be available for the public to experience and enjoy through September 2025.

March 5 was a gorgeous day with temperatures in the 70s, and standing in Steele Indian School Park was a lovely experience. But we know what's coming for us around the corner: summer. And looking around this park, there's no shade – but that's changing in about six weeks.

The backstory:

Phoenix residents don't sunbathe in the height of summer heat, they drown. A summer afternoon stroll will quickly feel like a hero's quest through the Sahara.

Parks are the places you go to early in the morning and after sundown. During the day, they are abandoned, but the City of Phoenix aims to change that this summer.

What we know:

"¡Sombra! Experiments in Shade is a temporary public art project that brings artists together with civic leaders to address extreme urban heat in Phoenix," said Carrie Brown, Deputy Director of the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture.

Using $1 million in grant money, Phoenix's Office of Arts and Culture teamed up with the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, choosing artist submissions from all across the country, and five are from Arizona.

The artists had to devise a way to create an Instagrammable installation that is cool to look at, but also provides shade and cooling in parks that desperately need it.

The artists who were chosen came up with some pretty clever ideas.

What they're saying:

There's the "Shades of Resilience" by artists at AZ(Land) who used ancestral techniques to create a cooling, contemplative gathering space, or "Standing Wave" by artist Shomit Barua, who designed a solar-powered soundscape. He says it transforms urban heat into captivating sonic art by blending the sounds of nature with innovative circuit-bending technology.

"The idea is that by hearing these sounds, and hearing the sounds of nature, it helps kind of calm your mind and make a comfortable environment. So it's a different way to come at the idea of feeling comfortable in heat," said Brown.

Phoenix chose nine of its most barren parks for the shade structure installations, which are temporary for permit purposes. But the goal would be to permanently install something similar to the Sombra experiment and make Phoenix parks in the summer a more pleasant experience.

"So, we are hoping that locals will be able to see all of them and enjoy them and really get to experience the parks in the summertime when they usually wouldn’t be able to do that without the proper shade protection," said Brown.

What's next:

The city will roll out the first installation at Cielito Park on April 19, and then another one every weekend after that time.

The installations will be available for the public to experience and enjoy through September 2025.

¡Sombra! Experiments in Shade