IRON MOUNTAIN PUBLIC Works employee Matt Tinti, left, is assisted by co-worker Brad Strehlow in putting up umbrellas Thursday in the alleyway between the First National Bank & Trust and the Sandstone Studios buildings on East Ludington Street in downtown Iron Mountain. The display is part of the Iron Mountain Downtown Development Authority’s Public Art Sky Installation project. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — A patchwork of colorful umbrellas now brightens the alleyway between the First National Bank & Trust and the Sandstone Studios building in downtown Iron Mountain.

The second stage of the Iron Mountain Downtown Development Authority’s Public Art Sky Installation project was completed Thursday.

In addition to community donations, the DDA won a $500 Neighborhood Bridge Builders microgrant from the Michigan Municipal League Foundation to help get them over the finish line to fund the project.

“This is the result of all the work the community has put into this,” said DDA Event Coordinator Kenzie Williamsen, noting the grant was also voted on by the public. “The downtown is flourishing.”

Last fall, bistro lights were hung in the alleyway, as well as across the 200 block of Ludington Street as the first part of the art project.

“We brought the lights, now we got the color to the downtown,” she said. “Adding to the vibrant flowers and the music.”

To receive the grant money, the project needed to be completed by the end of June.

The original plans were to include a second artwork, which was to drape a blanket of silver mylar above Ludington Street that would have produced a swooping, undulating effect.

“We will not be doing the mylar, just the umbrellas,” Williamsen said, explaining she feared there were too many “unknowns” to continue with that art piece at this time.

They had intended, too, to make it a rotating art project, but Williamsen said “At this point, we aren’t sure if we will change it up or put the umbrellas up again next year.” The umbrellas are seasonal and will be taken down in the fall.

The DDA hopes to still add something to the lights on Ludington Street, if not this year, then the next.

To celebrate the completion, the DDA will host a block party below the floating artwork in July as part of a Third Thursday event.

Full details will be announced in the upcoming weeks of the monthly event, sponsored by Linnea & Kristine.

“Now that they are up, we are going to have fun underneath them,” Williamsen said. “I love it — I’m so happy to see them up.”

The Downtown Iron Mountain Facebook page will post a request for community members to share a photograph of themselves under the umbrellas.

“There’s a lot happening in the downtown this year,” she said. “It’s exciting to complete another project.”