¡Sombra! The Celebration of Shade to combat extreme urban heat

A new type of public art is coming to Phoenix. ¡Sombra! The Celebration of Shade commissioned nine artists to create shading and cooling installations in response to extreme urban heat. 

In October 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies selected Phoenix as one of eight winners of its Public Art Challenge. The grant program awards $1 million to support temporary public art projects that address important civic issues in cities nationwide and showcase the potential of artists to act as civic leaders.

Next summer, the installations will be temporarily located in neighborhood parks throughout Phoenix. In fall 2025, they will be reinstalled at Steele Indian School Park for a free, one-day festival celebrating the community’s resilience to heat and the critical importance of shade in Phoenix.

Carrie Brown, the Deputy Director of the Arts and Culture department in the City of Phoenix, and Shomit Barua, an artist commissioned for the project, joined “Arizona Horizon” to tell us more about this unique art installation.