ADMISSION: 
Admission is free and open to everyone. Reservations required. RSVP in the program schedule below beginning Monday, March 1, at 10 a.m. 

DESCRIPTION: 
How can shade help us live better in a hotter Los Angeles? Through hands-on workshops, a guided campus walk, a thought-provoking panel, a movement performance, and exhibition of student and faculty work, Sunshine to Shade: Moving to Cool invites participants to consider how shade functions in our hot city. Discover new ways of seeing and designing for the spaces around you while imagining a cooler, more resilient future. 

PROGRAM SCHEDULE: 
RSVP beginning Monday, March 1, at 10 a.m. 

1 to 2 p.m. | Shade as Care: A Guided Peace Garden Walk 
USC Peace Garden 
Slow down, step into the shade, and experience the USC Peace Garden through mindfulness practices and guided observation with Kiel Shaub (EXL Lab @ USC; Physical Education & Mind Body Health), exploring how trees, plants, and landscape design influence comfort, focus, and well-being. The session concludes with a walk across campus to the Architecture Courtyard, revealing shaded pathways, microclimates, and the role of shade in everyday life. 

2 to 3:30 p.m. | Workshops in the Architecture Courtyard 
Workshop 1 – Sun to Shade: Building Cool Together 
Join designer Tom Gottelier (Designers on Holiday) and architect Andrew Seiger (A General Office) for a hands-on workshop where participants work together to build a full-scale shade structure. Along the way, explore cooling strategies, design principles, and how shade can support gathering and comfort in public life. 

Workshop 2 – Capturing the Cool: Mapping Sun and Shade Through Time 
Create a small-scale sundial and explore how shade moves and transforms throughout the day. Led by Hannah Wear and Kevin Parkhurst (Greener Empowerment Foundation / Design Integration Group), this workshop invites participants to see shade as a dynamic element that we can anticipate, design for, and intentionally shape in a hotter Los Angeles.  

3:30 to 5 p.m. | Designing for Shade: Rethinking Sun, Space, and Well-Being in Los Angeles 
Gin D. Wong Auditorium, Harris Hall 101 
How is Los Angeles adapting to a hotter future? Join historian William Deverell, environmental policy scholar Edith de Guzman, ShadeLA collaborator Marianna Babboni, Los Angeles City Forest Officer Rachel Malarich, documentarian Carey Lundin, and landscape architect Esther Margulies for a conversation about civic cultural shifts, shade adaptation strategies, and shade consciousness across the city’s infrastructure and public spaces. 

5 to 7 p.m. | Collective Manifestation: Exhibition, Performance, and Reception 
Architecture Galleries and Courtyard 
The evening concludes with a site-responsive performance by USC Kaufman School of Dance faculty member Jennifer Lott and architect Kevin Sherrod. Guests are also invited to explore an exhibition developed in dialogue with ShadeLA and Public Exchange (USC/UCLA) that features student work, documentation of the Peace Garden practices, and responses to regional shade design initiatives. 

During this time, light refreshments will be available in the courtyard, providing opportunities for participants, faculty, students, and community partners to continue conversations and engage with the exhibition and performance. 

Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Shirin Raban (Art and Design) and Esther Margulies (Architecture). 

Photo (left): Ashley Ngo