Art in the Shade: Confronting Climate and Equity Through Creativity

A new art exhibition at Descanso Gardens, titled “Roots of Cool: A Celebration of Trees and Shade in a Warming World,” explores Los Angeles’ climate and urban equity challenges through the lens of shade access and environmental justice. Co-curated by climate researcher Edith de Guzman and artist Jolly de Guzman, the exhibition brings together artists whose works reflect on the social and spatial disparities in access to trees, shade, and climate resilience. As reported by Marcos Magaña, the exhibition begins outdoors with installations like Leslie K. Gray’s “Bus Stop of the Past,” which highlights the dangers of unshaded infrastructure, especially for women of color who rely on public transit.

Inside the galleries, the exhibition progresses through past, present, and future visions of urban life and vegetation. In the “past” room, artists such as Kim Abeles and Diana Kohne illustrate historical inequities in green infrastructure and the consequences of planning focused on efficiency over comfort. The “present” gallery immerses visitors in the heat of urban reality, featuring installations like “Every Bench Deserves a Tree,” which contrasts life with and without shade. Finally, the “future” gallery imagines climate-responsive design through works like “Suspended Garden,” using repurposed plant material to envision sustainable, community-centered shade solutions.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors are invited to reflect on their own experiences with shade and participate in data collection on heat and equity in their neighborhoods. The show aims to bridge science and art to engage the public emotionally and intellectually. As Edith de Guzman puts it, this intersectional approach helps people imagine the city they want and deserve — one where shade is not a privilege, but a right shared equitably across communities. Roots of Cool will run through October 12 at Descanso Gardens’ Sturt Haaga Gallery and Boddy House.