The artist Lauren Halsey is designing an outdoor sculpture park in her hometown of South Central, Los Angeles. Newly released renderings show that the project is aesthetically related to her blockbuster Metropolitan Museum of Art rooftop installation, which proved an indomitable art-world hit in 2023. Renderings of the park reflect the blend of monumental, contemporary, Afrofuturist and Ancient Egyptian iconographies that has become one of the artist’s signature aesthetics.
The temporary outdoor installation, sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles, is being curated by Los Angeles Nomadic Division (Land) co-founder Christine Y. Kim with support from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project. The project builds on Halsey’s long-standing interest in centring Black culture in the language of dynastic antiquity, using the pomp and circumstance of canon-approved cultural heritage to elevate Black artistry. Halsey will cast eight sphinxes and and eight columns with the head of Egyptian goddess Hathor, a deity ruling over beauty, maternity and sensuality. The stone-faces will also be emblazoned with motivational phrases and images of community leaders.
Halsey's park will be open to the public in the spring of 2025 and remain on view through autumn 2026.
Rendering of the SUMMAEVERYTHANG community centre Rendering by Bestor Architecture
Also in 2026, Halsey revealed this week, her non-profit Summaeverythang will open a community centre in South Central. The space will build on the work her non-profit has been doing in South Central and neighbouring Watts since 2020, and "will be committed to fostering personal growth, educational opportunities, and holistic well-being for individuals of all backgrounds", according to an announcement. Programming for the community centre will be piloted at the sister dreamer installation, the announcement adds.
The news of the artist's forthcoming projects in South Central coincide with the more imminent news of her installation at the Parrish Art Museum in the Hamptons, to be unveiled on 8 June. That project, collaborative initiative with the Manhattan-based Flag Art Foundation, is part of the museum’s FRESH PAINT series, which pairs a never-before-exhibited work with a commissioned piece of writing. Halsey's intricate, multi-layered, wall-mounted sculpture will remain on view through 25 August.
