City council took testimony on Friday from the Department of Arts and Culture’s Krystal Jones about a confluence of two elements that the city aims to bring together: art and shade.
While the two may seem to have little to do with one another, Jones says not so: “There's many spots that need shade, but looking at where we can fill that gap, where there's public art need and a shade need, we really looked at targeting areas with high vulnerability to heat and also with fewer existing public art projects.”
San Antonio, she explained, has both shade deserts and art deserts. Where they end up in the same place, the city has an opportunity to make shade happen, while also funding art.
She said this lack of shade isn’t a problem that time will solve. “Especially because of our heat vulnerability that we have here in San Antonio, and the fact that it just keeps getting warmer each year," she said. “So how can we really meet that while also making sure that we're sticking to our creative culture and our heritage here in San Antonio?”
One targeted area she suggests needs a real fix: bus stops.
“We have intersection improvements on Military Drive that will be at bus stops. We're collaborating with VIA to incorporate shade and art. And then Culebra Road is two bus stops, again in coordination with VIA,” Jones said.
She says collaborations with VIA as well as the city’s Parks and Recreation Department could yield shade in places that haven’t yet been considered.
To fund shade-casting art projects, Jones said they’re still mining funds from the 2022 bond issue and hoping to include art and shade projects in the next bond as well.
