UMass Amherst’s Carolina Aragón Develops ‘Swarm’ Installation to Raise Awareness of Classroom Heat Problems

Carolina Aragón, an associate professor of landscape architecture who is also a climate artist and founder of Art for Public Good, has collaborated with the Cooler Communities Program and John J. Duggan Academy in Springfield to create “sWARM,” a participatory art project seeking to raise awareness about the effects of extreme heat in Western Massachusetts classrooms. The art installation, which features hundreds of origami butterflies that reveal special messages when temperatures rise, is on display through August at the Springfield Science Museum.

This past spring, a team from the UMass Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) worked with over 500 Duggan Academy middle schoolers and teachers to craft the butterflies, using an educational kit created by Aragón.

When the temperature reaches 77 degrees Fahrenheit, a special thermochromic paint causes each butterfly to transform from dark pink to translucent, revealing the original yellow of the origami paper and students’ messages about what to do when it’s too hot inside along with their hopes for the future. The “sWARM” of butterflies aims to serve as a visual thermometer, prompting viewers to consider how extreme heat from climate change impacts indoor public spaces.

After the exhibit completes its run at the museum, it will move to the main hallway of Duggan Academy, where many classrooms lack air conditioning and temperatures can reach 90 degrees on a hot day.

At the installation’s opening on June 1, Duggan Academy Director of Partnerships Mary Kay Brown recounted that when one middle school class tried to paint the butterflies for the first time, students were astonished to see no pink on their paint brushes. The thermochromic paint immediately turned clear because the classroom was too hot.

At UMass, Aragón is now working with Ezra Markowitz, professor of environmental conservation, to study how “sWARM” influences participating students’ knowledge and perception of extreme heat. Aragón and Markowitz hope to share their findings with Duggan Academy students and teachers in the coming months.

The exhibit is on display in the Tolman Room of the Springfield Science Museum through Aug. 31. Entry is free for all residents of Springfield with a valid ID.