A sneak peek at the replacement for ‘Umbrella Sky’ in Coral Gables

Move over Umbrella Sky. Here comes “Sun Stories.”

That’s the name of Coral Gables’ next art installation that will debut this summer on Giralda Plaza.

The city described it on its Facebook page as “a collection of multi-colored, plexiglass letters dancing from above creating playful sayings about @CityCoralGables across the ground as the sun passes through the day.” A rendering shows what looks like sun filtering through stained-glass-like panels. (You can bet that one of the sayings will be “The City Beautiful,” Coral Gables’ motto.)

The idea for “Sun Stories” comes from Miami contemporary artist Jessy Nite, whose work has been exhibited in London, Bangkok and Vienna and in South Florida. She painted images with the theme “Nuthing but Sunshine” for the 2017 debut of the Nike store in South Beach. She also created a mural in downtown Hollywood in 2013 for the city’s mural project. She produced installations on the sides of buildings including the Soho Beach House with giant messages that read “Sun Is High And So Am I” and “Made In The Shade.”

The sun has been a theme in her work, which is a mix of murals, installations and sculptures.

“The sun is a major part of our lives here in Miami,” she wrote on her website about her projects. “It’s a constant and it connects all of us.”

Last month, Coral Gables put a call out for artists to develop an overhead art installation that could potentially have the same pop and pizzazz as last summer’s Umbrella Sky, the Mary-Poppins-inspired display of 800 rainbow-hued umbrellas suspended over the plaza from July to September. The exhibit became an instant viral sensation, transforming the strip into a popular selfie zone where drew thousands of spectators.

The new project, which has a budget of $150,000, will be displayed through June, July and August.

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