Shade \u201ccan be much more than functional,\u201d said David Hondula, Phoenix\u2019s director of heat response and mitigation. \u201cIt can enrich our public spaces.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cities across the U.S. are combining art with shade to shield people from rising temperatures and educate them about our warming world. (AP Video: Thomas Machowicz. Produced by Juli\u00e1n Trejo Bax)<\/p>\n
Art and shade in one of America\u2019s hottest cities<\/p>\n
At one park in Phoenix, a large awning is held up with panels of dazzling colors. On them are painted whimsical creatures called \u201calebrijes\u201d from Mexican folk art, and the structure contains a solar-powered misting system. At another park, a canopy decorated with colorful drawings uses reflective paint and an ultraviolet-resistant canvas. <\/p>\n
These are part of Phoenix\u2019s temporary public art pieces<\/a> created with help from locals. Each was unveiled during a community event featuring information about shade and heat safety, along with free cooling towels and sunscreen. <\/p>\n \u201cThe more you know and the more you can recognize your own body\u2019s response, the better you can take care of yourself,\u201d said Carrie Brown, deputy director for the city\u2019s office of art and culture. <\/p>\n \n Reflections on Sunnyslope, an art piece by Jessica Arias that also functions as a shade structure, stands at Sunnyslope Park in Phoenix, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (AP Photo\/Samantha Chow)\n <\/p>\n Reflections on Sunnyslope, an art piece by Jessica Arias that also functions as a shade structure, stands at Sunnyslope Park in Phoenix, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (AP Photo\/Samantha Chow)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n \n Reflections on Sunnyslope, an art piece by Jessica Arias, that also functions as a shade structure, stands at Sunnyslope Park in Phoenix, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (AP Photo\/Samantha Chow)\n <\/p>\n Reflections on Sunnyslope, an art piece by Jessica Arias, that also functions as a shade structure, stands at Sunnyslope Park in Phoenix, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. (AP Photo\/Samantha Chow)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n These art installations are one element of the city\u2019s plan<\/a> to expand shade. Studies show that shade significantly reduces air and surface temperature and how intensely people feel heat. In a city that has averaged in the last decade more than 115 days annually with day temperatures past 100 F (38 C), cooling shade can be lifesaving. <\/p>\n Shade can feel even cooler when combined with beauty. One study<\/a> in Phoenix, co-authored by Hondula, found that people rated aesthetically pleasing bus stops as being cooler than less beautiful ones. In another from Hong Kong<\/a>, findings suggested that people had a higher heat tolerance when they perceived their environment as quiet and beautiful. <\/p>\n In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a place accustomed to dreary winters but not heat, a project titled \u201c Shade is Social Justice<\/a> \u201d is helping the city convey heat dangers and safety with creative designs. One installation features hanging flowers that open when temperatures hit 85 F (29 C), signaling to people to cool down with water and shade, said Claudia Zarazua, the city\u2019s art and cultural planning director. <\/p>\n Technology gathers human data without exposing people to heat<\/p>\n On a recent afternoon in Phoenix, Arizona State University doctoral student Muhammad Abdullah rolled an advanced mobile weather station called MaRTy 3D+ next to a shade art installation in Cielito Park. He measured temperature, humidity, wind and radiation, then estimated what could be happening to a person\u2019s body in both the shade and in direct sun light. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Arizona State University doctoral student Muhammad Abdullah sets up MaRTY, an instrument used to take measurements in direct sun and shade, at the Reflections on Sunnyslope shade structure, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, at Sunnyslope Park in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Samantha Chow)<\/p>\n Arizona State University doctoral student Muhammad Abdullah sets up MaRTY, an instrument used to take measurements in direct sun and shade, at the Reflections on Sunnyslope shade structure, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, at Sunnyslope Park in Phoenix. (AP Photo\/Samantha Chow)<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n He found that moving from sun to shade dropped the mean radiant temperature from about 145 F (63 C) to 88 F (about 31 C). The change did not significantly affect core temperature, but skin temperature decreased immediately. When MaRTy3D+ returned to the sun, skin temperature rose again.<\/p>\n MaRTy 3D+’s ability to model and measure how different people thermoregulate is unique. It can tell researchers, for instance, the skin and core temperature as well as cardiac strain in someone who is elderly or on a specific medication, said Jennifer Vanos, an associate professor at ASU who studies heat\u2019s impacts on the human body and how to mitigate them. This technology allows them to collect real-time data in sometimes risky situations without impacting humans. They are using their findings to make recommendations to the city. <\/p>\n Highlighting shade inequity and solutions<\/p>\n Edith de Guzman, a cooperative extension researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, has spent years researching how to increase shade in communities most impacted by heat. With colleagues, she has also quantified that shade can reduce up to 25%<\/a> of heat-related deaths in LA and up to 66% of heat-related emergency room<\/a> visits. When the opportunity emerged to curate an art exhibit about shade and who lacks access to it, she and her husband took it. <\/p>\n \u201cRoots of Cool: A Celebration of Trees and Shade in a Warming World\u201d takes visitors into the past, present and future roles of shade in LA with textiles, paintings, mixed media, interactive maps, suspended multicolored umbrellas and more. Their goal is not just to highlight the issue, but also show the general public that solutions exist, de Guzman said.<\/p>\n A three-part installation by artist Leslie K. Gray invites visitors to consider the past, current and future experiences of public transportation users in the city. Each features a silhouetted woman waiting at a bus stop with either no shade, a little bit or ample amounts. The bus stop signs include facts about the dangers of heat, the benefits of shade and the disparate access to it. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n