Under the umbrellas: New art installation delights visitors at Art Park

Umbrellas have descended upon Auburn's Central Square Art Park this week, attracting the interest of passersby and cooling down the open space. The art installation, which has been nursed by the city's Arts Commission for several years, was inspired by the umbrella-shaded walkways of Agueda, Portugal. Now, 81 individual umbrellas hang from a metal structure over Art Park, creating shade and a selfie-worthy site. The goal of the project was to make the space cooler and more attractive to visit, especially during the warm-weather months. Volunteers from the city's Arts Commission, who spent considerable time pre-working on the engineering aspects of the umbrella configuration, worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday installing the umbrellas. "On Saturday, people stopped by and said it was so cool and beautiful and awesome, yelled 'yay' from their cars and took pictures – nothing but good responses," Arts Commissioner Chair April Maynard said in an email to the Auburn Journal. Maynard said the space was cooling off as the umbrellas were installed. She said the ambient temperature under the umbrellas was 61 degrees while it actually felt like it was 90 degrees out. "The space will now be useable in the warm weather," she said. The Downtown Business Association stepped up to donate $20,000 to the project last fall, and the community came together to help the business association recoup that money through its "Sponsor an Umbrella" program. Maynard said the umbrellas will be up at Art Park seasonally though September or October and will return year after year.