American installation artist Lauren Halsey has unveiled sister dreamer, her architectural monument and sculpture park in Los Angeles. The project, curated by Christine Y. Kim and presented in collaboration with the Los Angeles Nomadic Division (LAND), opens today at Western Avenue and 76th Street and will be on view through November 2027. The sculpture park, whose full title is sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles, pays homage to the neighborhood where the artist and her family have lived for generations. Halsey is co-represented by David Kordansky Gallery and Gagosian. She continues to live and work in Los Angeles.
The sculpture park is two decades in the making; the artist originally developed the idea as an architecture student in 2006. The site consists of interlocking concrete panels that form a courtyard built around a water feature. Fruit trees, vegetables, and native plants appear inside and around the perimeter. At the entrance, eight sphinxes in carved relief sit alongside Egyptian-style Hathoric columns inscribed with local symbols. They bear the faces of Halsey’s mentors, family friends, personal heroes, and other important members of the South Central community.
“I grew up on Western Avenue, in the area surrounding sister dreamer,” the artist said in a press statement. “It was and still is a beautiful environment, a place and time of joy, genius, and freedom. Throughout my life, many buildings were burned down, abandoned, left empty. Yet what always stood out to me were the people who informally activated these open spaces: selling Christmas trees, running ad-hoc barbecue pop ups, holding church services, or using it as an ephemeral space to sell hundreds of mix CDs. The community understood that these empty lots could be used for different functions and needs. And it is this same ingenuity, imaginative capacity, and everyday brilliance that sister dreamer celebrates and is focused on activating for others in my community.”
A slate of programming will activate the site with film screenings, tutoring and youth-engagement events, jazz nights, and other festivities developed for the local community by Summaeverythang Community Center, Halsey’s nonprofit organization.
sister dreamer is the most ambitious project to date for LAND, an organization that commissions large-scale, site-specific public art installations in nontraditional sites across Los Angeles. Entry is always free of charge to the public. “It’s been a privilege to work in support of Lauren Halsey and her incomparable vision to present sister dreamer,” said Laura Hyatt, the director at LAND, in a press statement. “Our work at LAND would not be possible without artists like her, who understand art-making as both commemorative and life-affirming, urgent and community-serving.”
